The Grimwood Fam

Our summer Vacation Part I

2011-09-10T22:14:00.000-07:00

We had a great summer vacation this year. In the beginning it kinda started off slow, winter lasted forever! Knowing that this could be our last summer vacation here in Oregon we wanted to make sure did all the things we usually do and then save the others for later. Then, Brian could join us for some new things. He was extremely busy this summer with boards, residency applications and getting ready to leave for Fort Worth and Mesa.
So we went to Oaks Park, Berry picking and the Oregon Zoo. All these things were fun, but our favorite thing we did this year was go to California and spend a month with our Grandparents. They boys got to enjoy some wonderful Grandparent time and the Grandparents got to spend some time being Grandparents. Something both sides needed very much.
So, here are some pictures of our trip to California.

Rest stop pictures.
Somewhere in Oregon.

Some where in California

These goats were well fed. I just
hope weeds are on their diet.

We decided to take 3 days to get to my folks house. It usually only takes less then a 1 1/2 days. But, whose counting? So we stopped by the raisin factory and took a picture in front of the Raisin lady. It was fun and the boys got to run around. (my boys are the best they did so well on this trip).

This boys is Awesome!

2011-06-01T13:49:00.000-07:00

I can't believe that Jason is nine years old. (Well, tomorrow but I have no time tomorrow to blog so one day early is okay). I just have to say that is child is so awesome. I just love him so much. It's not easy being a child to a medical student soon to be a medical doctor. With Brian always being gone and having to study this child has not complained once.And this is from the time we started this adventure. He is such a good example to me. He works so hard. I thought I would highlight a few of his accomplishments he has had this year.

He made his first Pinewood Derby car. And raced it and actually won a few of his rounds. (His the Spiderman blue and red car)
Jason started scouts and loves it. He has earned his Bobcat and tomorrow will be getting his wolf. (scouts is the best program the church has for these boys) I am so glad he loves so much.
He learned how to play basketball
He is learning how to roller skate which is an adventure in itself.
Jason is such a good friend to others around him and to his younger brothers. Which is not easy especially when they want what he has. Or they destroy his wonderful lego creations. He just tells me, "Mom, I am going to make it bigger and better."
Just a few weeks ago we purchased a trampoline, (let me just the best outside toy ever) Jason just loves it.
Jason had the best teachers this year. They have totally embraced his love for reading and have pushed him to read more. He got the highest score on the reading part of the OAKS test in the Third Grade. I am so proud of him. We are currently working on our Multiplications and with some pushing he is getting them. Now we get to enjoy division what joy!
We made through our braces with out losing our retainer. Not once! We also graduated from wearing glasses, without him breaking them. I wish we could say without them being broken, but with two little brothers that was impossible.
Together we learned how to grow some citrus plants. It has been fun watching them grow, well at least stay live. We grew two lemon, two lime, a orange and a tangerine. We have plans to take them down to California this summer so our grandparents can watch them until, we are done. We will then pick them up after Brian is done with school. It stinks that the company won't send them to California. Oh well we will just take them there ourselves.
Lastly, Jason has just grown so much. Nine years ago he weighed in at 2 lbs. 7 oz. now he is 70 pounds more and thriving.

I am so thankful that I have been able to see our Jason grow so much. I love him and I can't wait to see what the next year has in store for him. I know that he will continue to grow and learn.

Tulip Festival

2011-05-28T19:33:00.000-07:00

It has been a while since I lasted wrote anything on this blog. We have done a ton since it would seem way overwhelming to sit here and write for an hour. I have decided to break them up into different parts.
So, on Mother's day weekend we went to the Tulip Festival in Woodburn. We have wanted to go there for a while now. So, Brian took a break from studying and we went. It was perfect they were having half off day for the weekend. So instead of costing us 10 bucks it was only 5. I wish the weather had been warmer. But oh well. I am just glad we went. Tulips remind me of my Grandmother Hope. She always had such beautiful red and white tulips in her yard.
The boys had fun playing in the little park area that they have there. Here are some pictures:

Jason on the little tractor.
Gavin was so excited to climb up to the top. But when it came
to going down it was a totally different story.What a cute little dutch couple
What cute flowers!
And some more!

Oh, there's the real ones
A hottie amongst some beautiful
flowers.

My favorite. Thanks, Jason.

Some for the road. Even though there
are signs all over the place saying "don't pick the flowers". Too bad the boys can't read.

Eating Out does not have to be bad

2011-04-25T15:42:00.001-07:00

This morning was a super busy morning. I can actually say I am glad Gavin woke me up at 5:30. I have been feeling so horrible that last few weeks. A couple of weeks ago I went in to see the Doctor for a sinus infection. Well, two weeks later and after some wonderful drugs, I am still feel gross. So, this morning I decided I should go back and see the doctor. Since we live an hour away I had to call early. Mondays are a horrible day to try to get into the doctors. Anyway I got in and it turns out I have allergies. Which is not a huge surprise to me. Because I always get them. The surprise was that we had to wait for about an hour to see the doctor. During our wait Gavin decided to have big poo. And being the prepared person I am I left the wipes in the car. So thank goodness for tp and water.
So, after our lovely trip to the doctor. Taking two active boys to the doctor is an adventure thank goodness our Dr. has some pretty cool toys to play with. We got to go and wait at Walgreen's for another half hour. By this time the little granola bars that I had in my bag were gone and the boys were starving. ( I should mention they are boys and they are always hungry). But, it was 12ish and one granola bar was just not enough. ( I was super prepared.)
Since we were at the Oregon city Walgreen's, I decided since they has not caused too much trouble at either places (only running up and down the rows screaming, playing chase and fighting only a couple of times at MD's). I decided that they deserved a little treat. So, we went to McDonald's. Not only could they have lunch, but they could run around and play at the play-place. For our boys going to McDonald's is a real treat, we only go there like a couple times a year. Anyways, I ordered my usual the Fruit Yogurt Parfait, and the boys got what I always get them chicken nuggets, apple slices and water. As I was looking around at the other kids and what they were eating, Happy Meals. At first I felt bad for my kids, they had no cool toy to play with, and they had to share their nuggets. Then, as I watched the boys play I realized a couple of things. First those Happy Meals are too expensive and my boys would lose or destroy the little toy after a day. And Second that eating out does not have to be bad for. I decided that I was going to use this as a learning tool for my boys. On they way home Matthew and I talked about how important it is too make good choices when we go out to eat, or when we eat in general. N0w, I know chicken nuggets are not the healthiest things to eat, but they are sure a lot better then other things. ( Gavin was in Nap land, one of the reasons we stopped to eat, I knew he would fall asleep before we got home). I hope that I can teach my boys to eat healthy and that eating is about control and learning to control ones habits. I am not trying to judge the other parents it was just an eye opener for me.

Our little Four Eyes!

2011-03-11T21:36:00.000-08:00

Earlier this month Gavin was diagnosed with Accommodative Esotropia. Which in lame terms, " lazy eye". So, our Dr. told us that he would need glasses. This was not a shock to me I had done research before we went in for our visit. I just knew that something was wrong and we needed to get it looked at.
So, for a couple of weeks before our visit I went glasses shopping. Can I just tell everyone that looking for durable glasses for a two year old is nearly impossible. We looked at Costco and Walmart (they are the cheapest) with no luck. But, we found some that I hope will work, at least for a while.
He looks so cute with his little glasses on. His eyes aren't perfect with them on, but I hope they will get there. If not, then he will be patched, which is no big deal. I am just so happy that now he can finally see. He is very Farsighted. In fact he is actually willing to do some art projects with us now, before he wouldn't I just thought it wasn't his thing. But, now with his glasses he wants color and paint with Matthew. It helps that he can actually see what he is doing. After we left Dr. Boch's his first little sentence was, "Mom I can see". Which is major, becuase Gavin does not talk a whole lot. He is just do dang cute.

A proud Mom Moment

2011-01-28T08:04:00.000-08:00

Today as I watched my 8 year old wait for the bus, I had a "Proud Mom" moment. We live at the corner of our street and the bus picks up the kids across the street from our house. My son and I have talked about running down the end of the street and back with his little friend. Well today as I was looking out our window just checking on him and wondering where the stink-en bus was (it was almost 15 minutes late). I saw my little guy explain to his friend that he could not go down the street. His little friend kept trying to get him to go and for the first time I saw my boy stay firm to what we have taught him. It made me proud that he did this on his own (meaning not looking back to our house and checking if I was in looking on him).
And I had a thought, this is one of the reasons why we send our kiddos to school. The time that they are away from us at school is the time when they can truly put in use what we have taught them. And isn't this is why they/we came to earth to be tested and to prove to ourselves. It is not easy, but it is worth it! This also gives them a chance to be little missionaries. Hunter (the little boy) is taking the missionary discussions and is planning on getting baptized as soon as him mom will let him. (side note: he has the best Grandma she reminds me so much of my Grandma. I look up to her so much. She is so AWESOME) Even though I don't agree with everything that is taught in schools these days. When I don't agree I have no problem telling my son and teaching him a better way. I do love the fact that my child is getting a chance to be tested and learn. And when he needs help I will always be there for him.
I don't believe that learning starts when kids get on the bus and stops at the bus stop. I am so thankful for these little moments that I get to cherish.

Wow it has been a while

2011-01-12T13:37:00.001-08:00

I have decided that I need to update my blog since it has been forever. I/We have been so busy. If I am not doing something for the kids, cleaning the house, or working on my calling I am helping Brian look at Residency programs. Yes that is right the time has come for us to start looking at where we would like to spend the next 3-4 years after he is done in June of 2012. I am not going to promise that I will blog all the time, but I would like to keep up with it more.
Well this is just going to be a quick entry since I am making cookies, and working on the Relief Society Monthly meeting for tomorrow. Back in September I was called to be the Meeting Coordinator for our ward. That means I am responsible along with my committee members to help plan activities for all the RS in our ward. At first I thought it would not be too bad, but after our first activity I have realized it is a lot hard and more time consuming then one would think.
Brian has entered the last half part of his 3rd year of medical school. And boy is it starting off with a bang. Surgery is so crazy I can't believe it. I am so glad he just has two weeks left.
Jason, is working hard at getting his Wolf badge for scouts. I am so glad he is enjoying scouts. We just finished reading our first official 4th grade book called "Gooseberry Park". It was a great book and we both enjoyed a lot. We are not working on reading Tom Sawyer he seems to like it as well. I love the fact that he loves to read.
Matthew is finally liking Preschool. He took a while to get used to things and being away from good old "Mom". He is working hard on writing his name, it is just those darn "e"s that are giving him problems. But, his teacher told me today that he is far above the other students in his class, that made feel good that all this hard work is paying off. Matthew is also learning how to swallow whole pills. The makers of Pepcid AC chewable have some issues they have to work out so we were forced to teach him. He is doing well due to the fact that I just put them in some yogurt and down it goes.
Our dear sweet Gavin turned 2 in October. He has increased his vocabulary a lot. I can't believe how much he is grown. He loves playing Legos with the older boys. It is fun to watch him and his brothers play. We are working on sharing, it is not his strength but we are a work in progress. He is going to nursery and loves it. At first it was hard for him to be without Matthew, but after a couple of times he was happy. He has also
I truly love being a SAHM and watching these beautiful children of God grow up. At times is stressful, crazy, and sometimes down right tiring, but it is so worth it. Yes we have had to give up some luxuries in life so I can be with them, but I would not trade it for anything.

Braces

2010-10-05T20:12:00.000-07:00

I have finally gotten around to writing about Jason's braces. I know it has been like four months. But, sheesh I have been so busy it is crazy. So, we got braces way back when, and he loves them. He really needed them. So, we decided that we could either wait until Brian was done with school and most likely have to have oral surgery to fix is overbite or get them done while we are living near OHSU and pay less money and not have oral surgery. We obliviously choose option "B".
So today we went back to the orthodontist. I was hoping this appointment would be in and out real quick. I don't know what I was thinking, they are never in and out (it did not help that we were late this time). At OHSU we are not paying for quick service when the Dr. is in training. When the Dr. came and got me he told me that they decided to put his head gear on him today. At first I was like okay great! Then I got a closer look and was taken back a little. He was so happy. His first thing he said was, "Mom look I am a football player." I was like right son you sure are. Dr. Cook (his ortho) could not believe how easy Jason was at wearing this gear. I was a little shocked too. I think it helped that there was no mirror for him to get a good look at himself. Jason was so excited that he decided to wear out to the car and all the way to school, where he had me take it off.
In like ten years I am going to remind him of his enthusiasm when we go through round two of braces. I have a feeling he will not be as excited.

My third grader

2010-09-07T14:06:00.001-07:00

Today Jason started third grade. Wow time flies so fast. He was super excited to go to school today. Now that he is in 3rd grade he gets to go upstairs. He has waited a whole year for this right of passage. I took him to school like I always do. I know that this could be one of my last years taking him to his first day of school. I have been told that one day he will want to go by himself. It is just a tradition. However, today as I left he told me, "Mom tomorrow I will take the bus." I think the pictures say it all. I could not even get him to smile. They grow up so fast.
He has two different teachers. Mrs. Rose and Mrs. Henderson. I think this is kinda weird but, I am sure he will get use to it. Hogan Cedars is a great school I feel blessed that we were able to move into an area that has such a wonderful caring staff. I hope we have a great year this year.

Parenting: Touching the Hearts of Our Youth

2010-08-17T21:16:00.000-07:00

This is an awesome video. Someone once told me, "if you don't listen to the little things your child tells you, when the big things come around they will not tell you." I am not perfect, we are working on this everyday. I hope all will enjoy this great talk from Elder Hales.

Parenting: Touching the Hearts of Our Youth

Our Next Home

2010-08-17T14:37:00.000-07:00

I know this is super early, but I am going to start making my list of what I want in our next home. I am sure I am thinking about it more because is it so HOT. And we have no A/C. This is the first time since we left Utah like 9 years ago that we have not had A/C. This is also the very last time I will ever live in a home without it. The heat makes me so grumpy. I should be a joy to around in like 10-15 years.
So, this is mainly for me but any can read it. With residency less than two years away I have decided that it is never too early to start my list.

A/C is a must, or we will have to live in a place like Alaska where it doesn't matter.
I want a bigger kitchen. What is wrong with my I keep picking places with Kitchens fit for a family of two.
Walk in pantry. I have three/four hungry boys/man and have no where to put all the food they eat.
Lastly, I want my own bathroom. There is nothing nicer than when you are trying to get ready for the day and there is water splatted all over the mirror, or toothbrushes laid all over the counter. I love my boys, I just need a little space now and than.

Okay this list is short but I will be adding to it.

Making Ice Cream

2010-08-04T22:37:00.000-07:00

Today Jason and Kaylee made ice cream. I have been wanting a ice cream maker for a while now. But, I just have not brought myself to by one. I decided to use what we have at home, minus the rock salt. Who ever has rock salt readily available. We were going to make some for all the kids. Then as we were getting things ready I decided that this would just be a big kid activity. I am so glad I did. Like less than a couple of minutes into it. I ended up doing all the shaking. Kaylee and Jason decided that it was too cold for them. Oh well, it was fun anyway it also tasted alright I was surprised.. On a side note I am glad the little kids forgot about making ice cream when they woke up from their naps. (thank goodness for Dora Popsicle)

The Good and the Bad

2010-07-23T13:59:00.000-07:00

Over the last few months we have added a new item to our bedtime routine. It is something I learned when I was in college. I forgot about it and recently read from my friend's blog about it. It is called "The good and the bad". Before the boys go to bed, I asked them, "okay tell me the good and the bad." So, Jason and Matthew tell me one good thing and one bad thing that has happened during the day. (sometimes they tell me more than just one, which is fine I usually only cut them off when we get to more than five or the other one is crying that they want to share too) Recently Gavin has joined the fun. He noticed it the whole two days he was sleeping with the older boys. Unfortunately he was sent packing back to the office. He is such a trouble maker, as long as he is by himself he will sleep otherwise it is playtime forever. So, the other day I put him in his crib and was getting ready to walk out when he started to scream. This is unusual for him unless he has a dirty diaper. So, I went back and kissed him goodnight after making sure he was clean. I started to walk out and he screamed again so I asked him, "tell me the good and the bad" he said something I am not sure what it was. I let him know I understood even if I didn't. Then he laid down and got his blanket and feel asleep. It was pretty cool . I love sharing these last moments with the boys checking up on their day. And they love it too, Jason and Matthew, (mainly Matthew) always fight over who is going to go first. And they will never go to sleep unless they get to say one good thing, we don't always have a bad thing. Which is okay, this has taught me that I should do the same thing with my Father in Heaven before I go to bed. He wants to know what has gone right and wasn't during my day.

2010-07-16T21:10:00.001-07:00

oaksberry

2010-07-16T20:42:00.000-07:00

The last few days have gone by so fast. We have been a busy family. On tuesday I took the boys to Oaks Park. We had a ton of fun, up until we went on the balloon ride. Now I know why I always had Ellie take my boys on that ride. I tried with all my might to get the darn Balloon to stop going in circles it work some what but the damage was done. We stayed for the rest of our time, but I was never so happy to come home and take a nap. I had the worst headache ever. Thank goodness for some Tylenol.
After our nap Jason helped me make some edible play dough. It was a lot fun. We came up with some pretty neat colors. Even though we only played with it for like 20 minutes it was fun to make anyway. Jason let me know that he prefers the real stuff. Go figure!
On Thursday I took the boys to pick berries at our favorite Blueberry picking place in Canby. I forgot that it was way out there. The last time we went we were living in Oregon City. Oh, well thank goodness for a DVD player. (Ellie don't get mad we will still go picking with you guys when you get back we will need more). Picking blueberries with Gavin was very intersting. I knew it would be the easiest of all our the berries. He loves them. He went from bush to bush grabbing a ton of berries and shoving them all in his mouth at once. I am going to need more diapers. I gave all the boys a bucket to fill up. They really liked it. Jason surprised me and actually put more in his bowl than he ate. Well, I think. Matthew and Gavin just ate their little hearts out. I always feel bad and want to offer money to the farmers, but they never take it. We picked 8 pounds of berries, they will be gone before summer is over I know it.
After we went berry picking it was time for lunch. I wasn't sure if they would be hungry or not with all they had ate. They were of course. So, we stopped by Subway and had lunch. Gavin fell asleep in the car after like two minutes after we left the farm. So, he woke up in time for us to get ready to leave Subway and demanded he have some too. So, our lunch date that would have take like 20 minutes took over an hour. Just a side note lunch time is a bad time to eat at subway with three children. Then, we went to the Oregon City library and play at the water park. It was a long day, but very fun.

catching up!

2010-07-12T20:35:00.000-07:00

This has been a crazy summer so far. My goal starting out this summer was to update our family blog weekly. Well, that all went out the window the first week.We have been extremely busy the last few weeks. So now it is time to play catch up with our events so far this year. It all started out when Brian had to study and take the comlex board exam in mid-june. This was a very hard and stressful time for our family. Even though only Brian was the one taking the test we were all worried and stressed out.
After the exam my mom came out to help me with Jason's baptism. I am so thankful that she came out. I would not have been able to get everything done in time without her. Jason had a wonderful baptism. It was a little stressful, but it was worth waiting for my Dad to arrive so that he could see one of his grandchildren get baptized. Ellie sang a wonderful song, "I am trying to be like Jesus". (i love this song) And Jennifer gave a great talk about baptism. I am so thankful also to Heather who played the piano on such short notice and for so long. It is so wonderful to have family members that are willing to help out. I was also glad that Sister Budge moved their ward party outside. It made things less complicated than they were.
Between the baptism and Brian's boards I was able to take the boys strawberry picking. I took the two older boys separate making it a whole lot easier. I also was able to spend some alone time with each of them. I took Matthew on a Saturday that had really bad weather. He like it anyway. We went for a half hour.
I think that is all he could take. Then, a couple of days later Jason and I went with Ellie and Kaylee, it was so much fun. We found a great place to pick our strawberries and the berries were so cheap. I think we will go back there again next year. The boys always eat more than they pick. Oh well, it is a lot of fun. Gavin will have to wait until next year or the year after that. He is too crazy for me to take Strawberry picking right now.
After the baptism we went to Corvallis Oregon. There is a residency program there that Brian wanted to check out. So we went along with him to check out Corvallis. It was pretty nice there. The program seemed very nice. I think we can add Corvallis to our list of possibilities of residency programs. The boys like the little park they had there. It was kinda cool it reminded me of parks you can find in Iowa. The park had a castle theme and all the boys had so much fun!
So after Corvallis we took the boys to Tillamook and to the Oceanside to see the coast of Oregon. The weather was cold and wet for most of they trip. We all had fun in Tillamook seeing the Cheese factory. The kids liked seeing where we get all the cheese they eat. At the cheese factory they have this big cow. Gavin was so afraid of this it was funny. It is tough when your the youngest because your older brothers can tease you and that is exactly what Jason did. We also enjoy our trip to the Ocean even if it was rainy. We went through this cave which was really cool. It went through a mountain. The boys enjoyed seeing and playing in the water. Jason especially loved it. The beach was so pretty the only thing that bugged me was all the rocks. We were hoping to take some shells home. We found a few, but after Gavin was done with they looked like the others at the beach broken. Oh, well we will just have to wait until next year. Here are some pictures of the beach and our family. Please excuse Matthew he fell at the end of our journey and was not a happy camper.

Into the cave

You know you live in Oregon when you wear
rain boots to the beach.

Before he fell off a tree trunk and hit his head

This has been our summer so far, we still have lots more planned. Thank goodness we purchased a new car. Oh I forgot to mention we bought a second car. I love it!!

Last Day of School

2010-06-17T06:09:00.000-07:00

Today was Jason's last day of the Second grade. I am so proud of him and all he has learned and grown so much this year. He had a great teacher this year which helped a ton.
We are looking forward to a wonderful summer with some fun activities. Some of our activities will be yearly traditions that we do every year like, picking berries, going to different parks, and going to oaks park. However, I am very excited for some of the new things we have planned this year like going to the beach, taking a hike to mt. Hood, going to the children s museum and signing Jason and Matthew up for the summer reading program at the library (we have done this before but have forgotten about it). Jason will also be attending Cub Scout camp this summer. I am so happy and excited to start working with him on his scouting. I just hope summer will actually arrive here in Oregon so we can do theses fun things.
Another new thing that we are going to start today is our new summer chores. I will write about them tonight or tomorrow. I got a great idea from another mom on a blog and I am so excited to get started with it.

At the starting of this year

Last day of this year

The Young Women of Walters Hill

2010-06-06T20:12:00.000-07:00

Today was my last Sunday as Secretary in the Walters Hill Young Women. Next Sunday they are changing the ward boundaries and the Stake President has that the bishops do kinda blanket releasing of all callings. I am kinda sad, I just love the Young Women they are so awesome. I think serving in the Young Women's is the best calling. You get to know the girls so well and grow with them. This is my second time in YW's and I hope that I get to be in many more times. Each girl is so unique and special. They each bring with them different talents, needs and problems. But they have all one goal and that is to feel loved.
I learned so much from each of them. I got to know the Beehives due to the fact that I got to work with them in their class on Sunday. I also got to know the Laurels well, they were always wanting to talk to the adults. You know how it is when you are 16-18 those little Beehives and Mia Maids too sometime get on your last nerves. Especially when some of them are you sisters.
Well, I just want to write about a few of them and what they have taught me this year. All of the stories come from the Laurels and one Beehive.
Gabby is such a wonderful girl. She had a hard time coming to church all the time. Three years ago this month her Dad took her Mom's life then took his own. Dear Gabby found the bodies. Her mothers sister volunteered to take Gabby and her two brothers into her home. The Aunt is the awesome example of Christ like love. She is a single woman raising a teenager, a 11 year old that has severe ADHD and a 6 year old. It has been hard, but I never see her complain even today when the 11 year old was going crazy she seemed to keep her cool and he got to visit us today in Relief Society.(we were joined) One day I would love to see Gabby be baptized. I know she will her aunt is an awesome example for her, even if she can't see it right now.
Emily our over achiever. She has done the YW Personal Progress two times. She has the date circled on the calendar when she can go to Relief Society. She has had enough of the little girls.
Kelly is such a wonderful mom. She made mistake, but it has not kept her from being at church with her little Lucas every Sunday. She is an example to me of never giving up even when life gets hard. She will graduate in soon. She is planning on attending Nursing school in the fall while she raises her son and works at Dr. Allen's dentist office. She is also an awesome Nursery teacher to my two sons.
Last we have little Luet. I am so proud of her. Two weeks ago she said a prayer in public for the first time. We have been trying to get her to say a prayer in Beehives for a year. She did it and she is working hard despite the fact that her Mom had a brain aneurysm and was diagnosed with MS. Luet is currently living with a member of the ward while her mom recovers from surgery. I personally think it is the best thing for this little girl.
These are just a few of the wonderful examples of these brave, christ like young women in the Walters Hill Ward. I will never forget them. I hope that some of these girls will be in the new ward. If not I will always remember them along with the great leaders. I will talk about them later, because I love these sister so much too.

Eight Years

2010-06-02T21:10:00.000-07:00

Eight years ago today, our lives changed forever as we became "dad" and "mom". Today our dear sweet Jason turned 8. It is hard for us to believe how fast time has gone. We had a little family party for him this year. Instead of having a big party we decided that we would take him to the movie theater to watch Toy Story 3.
As the week has gone by I have thought about the many things Jason has done and learned over this last year. Here are a few of them.

At the starting of this year we were happy to have the return of our Dad. It was hard, having Dad gone, but we did it and Jason stayed strong.
In August we moved out of the Guest house into our own place, which means that you (Jason) got to have your own room again. Then, just a few months ago we got you and Matthew bunk beds and you totally love them.
Starting a new school was hard for you, leaving all your old friends in OC, but you have quickly made new ones and enjoyed your new school.
We are learning that playing Xbox is a privilege and not a right. Some days we forget and receive little reminders as we see our Jedi Dots diminishing and that we might not have earned enough to play on Friday.
You have realized that being "grounded" stinks.
After many trips to the Orthodontist and a retainer your overbite is getting so much better. I am glad we did not have to do braces yet.
We are thankful to the many opticians at Costco that have fixed our glasses. You are learning that you are not one of them. And we need to leave it to the professionals to fix our glasses when our little brother grabs them and rearranges them.
You are currently reading a 4th grade book, "Tales of the Fourth Grade Nothing" and loving it.
Two weeks ago we finished our first indoor soccer experience. On your last game in the last second you scored your first goal.
Finally, you have gained your first testimony of the scriptures. Today while I was making your breakfast you told me, "Mom I have prayed and read (we have the kids version) The Book of Mormon and New Testament to know if these books are true. And God told me yes." I never want you to forget how you felt as you prayed this morning.

This has been a wonderful year and I am so excited for Jason to be baptized. can't wait to see what I will be writing about next year as you turns 9.

Sleeping Kids

2010-05-24T20:42:00.000-07:00

On Saturday Jason had his last soccer game.Thank goodness we have the whole summer to recoup until Fall sports. During one of the games (he had a double hitter) one of the moms commented on the size of our family. I guess she just has one kid. She told the other mom that I have a 7,3, and 1 year old. Which was correct, however I have no idea how she got this information. Saturday was first time that I really had a conversation with her. Well, after she finished giving some lady my family history, she continued to tell the lady what time our kids go to bed.Maybe Brian told her because he usually take Jason to soccer, those wooden bleachers are hard on the back and bum. She was literally shocked that we are able to get all three of our boys to bed before 8 ( I wanted to inform her that our kids go to be at 7, but I didn't). She told me that she was lucky to get her 6 year old to bed before 9. Personally I think 6 year old should be in bed by 7. Also, I don't know why she was making a big deal about it. She is the parent and she should act like it(She is really crazy).
With our kids we have a routine, they know what to expect and what they should be doing when bedtime comes. We have used the same routine since they were little babies. If fact Matthew now asks, "Mom what clock is it", If I tell him, "7:00". He will tell me "time for bed". I think it is important for children to get a good night sleep. For me it is the saddest thing to go to the store and see little kids shopping at 9:00. Usually the child is crying and the parent is frustrated. Shopping is hard enough with kids, I could not imagine shopping with a super tired one.
Our bedtime motto here at the Grimwood house is "a well rested child is a happy, ready to learn child." We have times of difficulty especially now that Gavin has moved in with the boys.(he always wants to play, what a trouble maker):) However the times of difficulty are few. I feel blessed that our boys can go to sleep on their own, after a story, prayer, scriptures and a million kisses (this is for Matthew) they are on their way to dreamland.
Sorry no pictures, Gavin and I have been kicked out of the office so Brian can study for boards. Maybe next time.

Two down one more to go

2010-05-15T22:19:00.000-07:00

I have been meaning to write this post for a while. Matthew is completely potty trained!! Actually he has been since around October. I wanted to write this back in November, but I was worried I would jink it. On Tuesday night when he came to me in the middle of the night and told me he had to pee, I knew it would be okay. I am so proud of Matthew. It only took a couple of days, and a few accidents for him to realize what was going on. I learned so much during this process. When it is Gavin's turn I plan on using the same method I used with Matthew. I am so thankful for my friend Heather and for her sharing her potty training advise with me. Matthew was the easiest kid to p/t ever. All kids are different and they learn differently, but I pray this method will work for Gavin.
If anyone is interested this is what you do. When your child wakes up from a nap dry, then you take them to the potty and introduce the concept. They know that when their bladder is full and that they are suppose to empty it in the potty. Also, you don't mention the word "potty" until they get to this point. (we kinda messed-up here) The only thing we did different was when Matthew first turned two I automatically decided that he was ready to be potty trained. I thankful he let me know he wasn't. So, I put it on the back-burner for a while. Then, in October I read he blog and decided that we would try it. It worked now he goes whenever he needs to. I hardly ever ask him, unless I can tell he has to go.
I am going to brag a little here. This method only took Matthew maybe a week or less to learn . It was so not stressful. In fact the most stressful thing was keeping Gavin away from the toilet paper. I know some people that read this blog like the EC thing, which is fine. It is just not for me and my family. I also know that there are some that believe that once a child hits 2 that they must be potty trained. ( this is the crowd I was in with Jason) However after experiencing a wonderful peaceful potty training experience with Matthew (something I wish I had with Jason). I will never go back to those methods again. Now, Matthew knows what he needs to do and he does it.

My little readers

2010-05-08T20:12:00.000-07:00

Recently, the little boys have taken a great interest in reading our cereal boxes during breakfast. After watching Jason always read them they have decided that they want to read them also. Jason, is not actually reading a box in the picture he spoke too late. So, he got one of his books instead. We do talk during breakfast, but the boys really enjoy reading the cereal boxes.
Today, while we were shopping at DI. We stopped by the book section. I was looking for a Judy Blume book for Jason. (they are always checked out at the library)I found, but Jason had already found a book he liked. Of course it was Star Wars novel. I let him know that their were no pictures and that the book was long. He told, "no problem, I will ready anyway".I think has to be for middle school kid. But, not for Jason he started reading it while we finished our shopping. I think he is ready for some Harry Potter books, if I could only find them. I am so proud of our little readers they inspire me to want to read more.

Look Mom

2010-05-01T21:33:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Matthew came to me and said, "Look Mom lipstick." He was pretty close. The picture tells it all. He wasn't so happy when bath time came.

Saturday Fun!

2010-05-01T20:53:00.000-07:00

Today so wonderful. The weather was nice and I was able to get many things done and spend quality time with my boys. Here are some fun things that we did today

After Jason's soccer game we came home to see a squirrel eating a peanut butter sandwich in our tree. I tried to take a picture of him he was so cute. Jason wanted me to make another sandwich for him. I let him know that one was enough.(besides I did not want to encourage feeding animals).

Jason looking up at the squirrel with binoculars that don't work. I guess we should
check on those glasses again.

Jason and I got to spend some quality time playing in our beautiful backyard. Sometimes it is hard to find time to play or explore with just the two of us. Usually during the week our alone time is spent working on homework. So, on Saturdays we work hard to have Jason and mom time. Here are some pictures we took of our wonderful garden.

This is my poor Marionberry plant. It has met the hands of Gavin one too many times.
My three blueberry bushes. They started out small but they are getting
BIGGER!!

We are getting ready to plant a couple of tomato and pepper plants. We tired doing the seed thing, but all this stink-en rain ruined them. And I forgot to make a couple of drainage wholes in the pots. We don't have a whole lot of space for a garden so I purchased some planters where else the Dollar Tree. Man I love that store! We want to teach the boys that it doesn't matter how much space you are given there is always room to grow your own veggies and fruit. One day we will have a larger space to grow until than we will grow in pots. If you look really close my
a few of my flowers met their doom at the hands of a one year old.

Gavin is officially in Nursery

2010-04-25T14:44:00.000-07:00

Today was Gavin's first official day in Nursery. Before today I would take him for just an hour either for Sunday School or YW's. But, after a wonderful most eventful Sacrament Meeting I decided that he was close enough (Friday he will be 18 months) and he was going to Nursery. Besides today was Ward Conference and I really wanted to attend the meetings. The, teacher informed me that right after he left he went straight over to Matthew and gave him a big bear hug. I wish we had our camera, but who brings a camera to church? We were told Gavin hugged Matthew for like 5 minutes! Matthew was okay with it for a minute. Than, I guess he got annoyed with it and tried to get Gavin off him. Too bad for Matthew that Gavin weighs almost as much as he does. During lesson time Gavin also grabbed hold of Matthew's ear and would not let go. I am glad that Gavin and Matthew get this chance to be in Nursery together. It saves the teacher from bringing Gavin to me and then me taking him back and playing this yo-yo game. I love my kids I enjoyed having a whole two hours at church to actually listen to the lesson. I have not had that since we had Matthew three years ago. I am going to bring my camera next week until than this picture will have to work.

I am back yet again.

2010-04-19T20:19:00.000-07:00

I have been really bad about keeping up with this blog. It is very hard when our computer is in the same room as Gavin. I am looking forward to when we can have this room empty or when we have a bigger home with a family room where we can put our computer. Until, than I will just have to suck it up!
We have been super busy over the last few months. I am not going to sit here and type out everything we have done. But, I thought it would be nice to post some pictures of our adventures during our wonderful spring break.
We started off with a visit to the ER. Gavin tried to stand up on the armrest of our rocker. He ended up falling off and hitting his head on the fireplace. He left with three staples. He was so brave he did not even cry when they put them in. However, he did cry after he really wanted to play with the staple gun thing and anything else he could get his hands on (ER rooms are very interesting for a toddler).We also had a wonderful visit from the Easter bunny. I just have to say it is very interesting doing the Easter bunny thing with such a big age gap. But we made it fun for everyone. The Easter bunny sent a very important message from Captain Keys of Halo. The boys had to find the Halo guys.( I know I am going to mess up this whole Halo thing but hey I am a girl in a boy's world here). It was a ton of fun watching all the boys work together. This is a picture of the letter that the boys received during their Easter hunt. I hope it turns out alright.We also tried some new recipes. One was called Red Velvet Oreo. I don't know why I use Red Velvet cake mix with three boys. I just like using Resolve and cleaning up red dye from the carpet. Below is what your one year old might look like after eating a Red Velvet Oreo.Or this.
Well, I hope to repent become a better blogger however, there are no promises here.

My little guinea pigs

2010-03-17T20:56:00.001-07:00

The last few weeks I have been trying new snack recipes. Last week I made Granola balls. That's right I said Granola balls. At first I thought they were kinda strange. I mean who ever thought of making a Granola bar into a ball. But, after making them they looked pretty interesting. I made them on Thursday for all the kids. I read the directions wrong and thought they had to be in the freezer for a while. Well, after realizing that I had left out the last part of the recipe when I copied and pasted it. I quickly put the balls in the fridge after they were only suppose to be in the freezer for a couple of hours then transferred to the freezer. Anyway, even though I had made a tiny little error the kids loved them. I am thankful for my six little guinea pigs that let me try new and sometimes unusual recipes on them.

Bunk Bed!

2010-03-17T14:58:00.000-07:00

After several months of looking on Saturday we finally purchased a set of bunk beds. We have been looking forever. The boys love them. Well, I should say Jason loves them and Matthew is almost there. This is the first time since Matthew left the crib that he is sleeping completely by himself. This was a much needed change in their room. Jason sleeps on the top. He loves sleeping up there. Yesterday Matthew tried to go up and visit. Jason told him "Get down this is my personal space, I need my space!" It was kinda of funny to hear, because I am sure Jason has heard that before somewhere. Well, Matthew sleeps on the bottom. I am so thankful we found these beds. Gavin also enjoys the new beds he can climb up the ladder faster than anyone including his oldest brother. They have made bedtime a lot more tolerable. Now no one can complain about being kicked or hit.

P.S. please excuse the messy beds I only have blankets for a full bed.

Week in review.

2010-03-05T20:44:00.001-08:00

Another great week is about to come to an end tomorrow. We had so much fun here in Portland as the boys played outside. I love the fact that we looked hard for a yard was fenced in. The boys have enjoyed running around and playing. They have also met a friend in the house behind us. Jason and Matthew talk to the girl and boy through our fence. They have also made friends with their dog.
Yesterday we went together as a family to see Jason sing at his school. It was so wonderful their program was about a Garden. Jason was a great singer. The only down part was all the super rude parents that would not sit down. Even after someone yelled "sit down" they still continue to stand and film the program. I think if you want to film your kid then go to the back or something.
Speaking of gardens for FHE we started our indoor garden. I purchased this little greenhouse type of thing at the Dollar Tree. So, we decided to start planting our seeds now. It was so much fun seeing the boys get excited about gardening. We also purchased some berry tree things. I thought I was purchasing a blackberry and raspberry. I forgot to read the label and when we got home to water them. I read the label and it gave instructions for Marion berry pie. I thought that was weird for a blackberry bush. Then, I read the label. Those darn berries they all look the same.

What a difference a day makes!

2010-03-02T13:26:00.000-08:00

So, yesterday I was all set to write this wonderful post bragging about how wonderful the younger boys were during the day. Then, as I was finishing the post, I had a quick thought, "if you post this entry you are going to jinks yourself". Thought was correct. Yesterday the younger boys played so nicely with each other for like an hour or so. It was so wonderful I was able to finish all my Monday morning chores in record time. I also had time to fold all the laundry and actually put it in it's place before snack time. Usually I am lucky to get the bathroom clean with only a couple of disturbances. But, yesterday Gavin and Matthew played so nicely together. I was even able to take some clothing out of storage for Gavin.(darn kid he is growing so fast). I am also going to brag how easily they both went down for a nap and bedtime. It was so wonderful.
Well, that all went out the window today as we did our errands. It all started at Home Depot where Gavin felt the desire to pull of the blossoms of a flower I was looking at. He almost went for the Blackberry bush I was looking at. Thank goodness for fast reflexes. Then, we did our weekly shopping at Winco. What trip! Gavin kept trying to climb out of the shopping cart to grab stuff to eat. I guess he was still hungry a granola bar was not enough for him. He managed to grab a box of Macaroni and Cheese. At first I thought great a toy than a few minutes later I realized he was eating the box. I am glad it was only .75 lunch for tomorrow or Thursday. Then, as we were looking in the bulk section ( I love this section) Matthew decided that he was going to sample as we walked along. I told him to stop and I wish we had room in the cart but it was full. As I was filling up on flour he started to sample the wonderful items in that section; flour, blueberry muffin mix, corn meal, finally he sampled some baking soda. That was the end of his sampling. It was kinda funny, I am glad he learned his lesson. When we got home no one wanted to come inside so they played in the backyard until it started to rain. The boys did not want to take a nap so after crying for a while they are finally asleep and I am enjoying some peace.

In one quick Swipe it was gone

2010-03-01T14:18:00.000-08:00

Gavin finally got his first haircut. It took long enough for us to cut it. I had enough of people asking me if he was a boy or not. I do have to admit it was the guy at costco that got me motivated to cut it. As we were checking it out, the guy asked me, "It is a boy right"? I thought does he not look like a boy he is wearing a Nike running outfit and it is blue. Two days later I decided we were going to cut it. With one quick swipe of the buzzers his baby hair was gone.. He did great he did not even cry. I am so proud but at the same time sad. If he is anything like Matthew it will take several months for it to grow back. The last step of his baby things have been accomplished. He is still our baby just now heading more toward growing up.

My Little Alarm Clocks.

2010-02-11T21:13:00.000-08:00

I have been wanting to post something about my children and their strange but true schedules. Before I continue I must admit that for the most part they have set their schedule themselves. So, if it sounds like they are little robots, please someone come and tell me how to reset their programs. I would love for them to sleep in especially on the weekends.

Here we go.
6:00-6:30 All the boys wake-up. No matter what day it is.
6:30-7:00 Breakfast
9:00 Snack
11:30 Lunch
12:30 They little boys are ready for nap except on Thursday then they have a sudden burst of energy and will realize they are tired at 1ish
2:45 Snack
5:00 Dinner.
7:00 to bed

A lot of these times are flexible. But, I think it is so funny that if I am running late with the meals all three are totally upset. I am thankful that they keep me on a schedule. However, I would love for them to sleep in every once in a while. Like on Saturday or Holidays. Oh well, I guess if we want that we would have to keep them up later and that would be a wreck around here. Three very tired children staying awake so we could get some extra sleep.

Bowling

2010-02-01T08:15:00.000-08:00

During Christmas vacation we took the three boys bowling. It was a lot fun. So here are some pictures of our bowling experience.

Jason kinda threw the ball down
Like father like son

this is a cheesy picture but at least I made it
in the photo album

My hats

2010-01-31T21:17:00.000-08:00

For christmas I purchased a loom to make hats. I am not a super crafty person. I am teaching myself how to knit. I made the little boys each a hat first. Since they are smaller I thought it would be easier and faster. I am still working on Jason's hat. The little boys and I went out shopping at our favorite store Target of course. It was kinda windy and cold that day so I decided this would be a good time for the boys to wear their new hats. Well, thank goodness for cameras. On our way to the car Gavin took off his hat and was swinging it around, before I knew it Matthew told me, "good bye Gavin's hat." Before I could do anything about it his hat was blowing away in the wind. Gavin was so happy he cannot stand wearing hats. So here is a picture of Gavin and Matthew with their blue hats.

Gavin's silly faces

2010-01-31T21:08:00.000-08:00

During dinner time Gavin likes to make these weird faces. I have no idea why he just does. So here they are.
Brian was encouraging him here for a
Kodak moment

It must be the cookie

He is our family clown

Our Three Year old

2010-01-30T20:32:00.000-08:00

Today I, Matthew Grimwood, turned three years old. Time flies when you are having so much fun. My mom says I have grown up so much this year. Here are a few things that I have done or learned over the last twelve months:

I am 97% potty trained. I can go on my own and usually hold my pee in for the whole night, unless my mom gives me BIG drink of water before bed. Then, my older brother is very thankful that I wear nighttime pull-ups to bed. It took me a couple of days and a couple of accidents before I figured it all out. But with practice I am almost there. (My mom says I have a bladder of a camel)
I love to play legos with my brothers. Sometimes Gavin messes up my creations, but he is learning that I get mad when he does that. (my mom dressed us up all in the same colors she is so silly)
I know how to spell my own name. I also almost know how to spell Jason and Gavin. So far I know that my name has different letters then my brothers. Like I have a "h", and Jason has an "o". I also know that Gavin has an "i" and I have a "e". Pretty good for a three year old. (I knew this stuff before I was three)
I have gained five pounds in six months. High fives for me! Thanks Dr. Fridge for helping me get better. (for over a year I was unable to gain weight)
Taking naps has become hard for me when my big brother Jason is home. However, I am learning that naps are good even if Jason is home.
With help from my Mom, Dad, and Jason I have learned how to say prayers. If I had it my way I would always say the prayer, however I am learning that sharing is also nice.
In September my Mom read me the book, "Paci's are not forever". At first I did not like this book and I threw it across the room. But, after taking a time-out and realizing that throwing a book was not good. My Mom finished reading me the book and I realized that pacifiers are for babies.
With some help I can get dresses all by myself. Sometimes I need help because some shirts do not have tags on them and that confesses me.
I love to color and draw. I can draw wonderful pictures of guys. Sometimes, I have to explain to my parents more than twice what I have drawn. After a few minutes they always tell me "oh that is wonderful." I guess that means they know what I have drawn.

Surprise Snow not Rain

2009-12-29T21:34:00.000-08:00

Well, today we were told it was going to rain. Well, I think Mother Nature had a different idea. Since is late this is just going to be mainly a picture post.

This was the best picture I could get of Gavin.
He was so excited to play outside to sit still for a picture

The boys working on a snowman.

Jason is learning that snow/rain with
glasses don't work too well.

Matthew was too tired to play
No nap.

Catching snowflakes

All done snow. He was cold
especially when he took off the gloves.

Cyclical vomiting syndrome

2009-12-18T21:07:00.000-08:00

In my last post I wrote that Matthew has been diagnosed with a condition called Cyclical vomiting syndrome. I am going to call it CVS it is so much shorter. I thought I would share with everyone what CVS is. Now, I am not a doctor so all the information I have is either what I have read or experienced.
CVS is when a child vomits in cycles. Matthew and many other children that have this illness usually vomit at night time. He starts around 2am and it usually goes for 2-3 hours vomiting every 10-15 minutes. Because it comes in cycles he is not vomiting every night usually a cycle starts every four to five weeks and last from a couple of days to a couple of weeks.
CVS is linked to migraines in teen and adults. So, Matthew is not having migraines yet(they usually come during the teenage years), just the vomiting that goes along with them. It has taken us over a year and half for the doctors to figure out what he has. I feel lucky because most cases take 2 years or more to be correctly diagnosed. There are no test that doctors can do so it goes misdiagnosed all the time. During the time we were looking for answers, I spent many visits to our doctor. He ordered all sorts of tests. We also took him to the ER once and no one knew what was wrong with him. Each time they seemed to try to tell me it was either a viral, bacteria, or some other thing. It was not until the last time I went in that I told the doctor I knew there was something seriously wrong with our little boy. After a visit to the Pedo GI she suspected he had CVS. It kinda stinks because she really does not know a whole a lot about it except the symptoms. There are no specialist here in Oregon or Washington in fact the closest one is in Wisconsin.
Just like migraines there are no cures for his illness. Either he will out grown them or they will get worse as his hormones get more crazy. As symptoms arise then the doctor will prescribe medicine to help calm them down. We are also trying to find out what triggers his cycles. I have no clue. Right know he is on some medicine to help with the nausea which seems to be helping out some.

I'm back!

2009-12-17T13:14:00.000-08:00

Okay so it has been almost two month since I last posted something. A lot has happened over the last few months. With the help of my husband and my two good friends I realized that I need to get caught up. Instead of writing a huge set of paragraphs I have decided to break it down into what each of us have been up to. So, here we go.

Jason:

On Jason's last report card he scored above grade level on almost every category. His teacher told me that he is one of the smartest students in her class. We are very proud of him. He loves to learn and wants to know everything.
He has become such a wonderful helper. Every morning he helps Matthew get dresses and ready for the day.

One of Jason's big accomplishments is teaching Matthew how to pee standing up. Every time he sees Matthew doing it he let's us know he was the one who taught him.

Matthew:

Over the last few months he has been working on potty training. Matthew is doing really well. We still have issues, but he will get there. Whenever he is awake and we are home he wears his underwear. We have only had a couple of big accidents, usually he just wets himself.
After a year and half we are so close to finding out what disease Matthew has. The doctor thinks he has a condition known as cyclical vomiting sydrome. We are currently waiting for the results of the blood tests.
Matthew has learned how to spell his name. It is so cute to hear him spell it. The other day I gave a cup that Jason's name on it. He told me, "Mom this is not my cup it says Jason my name is Matthew". I thought that was pretty advanced for a two year old but also really cool.

Gavin:
Gavin has grown up so much over the last two months. Here are some of the things he can do.

Crawl up and down the stairs without any problems
He recently learned how to climb onto the booster chair and turn the lights on and off. ( this is my favorite :-)
The other day we were shopping and I took something away from him and he started to cry and a nice lady told him that one of the most fake cries have every heard from such a little guy. So, he now has the fake cry down and he has learned to use it to his advantage. Something we are going to have to work on.
Unfortunately he has decided that he does not want to take a morning nap. So now he goes down to nap around 12ish and will sleep until 3 instead of taking a nap at 9 and sleeping for an hour. It is actually kinda of nice because of Have a whole 2-3 hours all to myself.
He had his first donut the day after Thanksgiving. He loved it.
Fake Christmas trees are not for climbing and they will break.
He loves his brothers and they love him so much

The Parents:

Brian received the NHSC scholarship. This means our medical school will be paid for over the next three years along with a monthly stipend. In exchange Brian will have to work for the government for three years to pay them back. This is a wonderful blessing not only will our debt be smaller, but he will have a job when he is done with school. I am so proud of him.
We have joined a gym which is also wonderful. We really like it. I usually wake up by 4:30 to go work out and Brian stays home with the boys. Then, after school Brian will go to the gym and work out and sit in the hot tub. I would totally recommend LA Fitness to anyone.
I was recently called to be in the young women program I love it. They are such wonderful girls. They are a true example to me.
We are learning how to juggle family, school, work and play. Sometimes it is hard but worth it.

Helloooo....

2009-12-14T22:53:00.000-08:00

Does anyone out there even read this thing anymore?
I'm just curious since we haven't updated in a while...

;)

Halloween.

2009-10-31T22:15:00.000-07:00

I have been such a horrible blogger. But I have three and sometimes four excuses. My family has kept me very busy these last few weeks. Here are some things we have been up to.

Today we had a Halloween party with our cousins. The boys had so much fun. This is an event that they look forward to every year. The boys really enjoy trick or treating with all the kids. Sometimes I wonder what the people think when 14 kids stop by a their door looking for candy. Jason went as Aniken Skywalker since the costume still fit from last year, I thought he could wear it one more year. Matthew was Superman. Gavin was our duck. We have had our dear duck costume for seven years now. It is a tradition t everyone has to wear it at least once. (this was not the best picture, gavin was super tired)

On Friday we celebrated Gavin's birthday. It was just a small family party.(due to exams) We will have a friend and family party later. This is last time I will make a Red Velvet cake, well at least until my kids are older. Red stained the carpet and was all over the place. The cake was pretested by a certain toddler so I had to re-frost it and the top looked so red.
The older boys and Brian carved a pumpkin. It turned out really nice, even though the pumpkin was green it did not look too bad. While they were carving the pumpkin I was trying to keep Gavin entertained. For some reason he decided that he was going to go crazy. I guess carving pumpkins is not his thing right now.

Gavin 1st birthday

2009-10-31T21:45:00.000-07:00

I can't believe that Gavin is one already. Time goes by so fast. He is growing up along with the older boys so quickly. He has been such a wonderful blessing in our family. I am truly learning that I need to treasure every moment with them. Also, my boys have taught me that parenting is hard but sometimes I make it harder then I need to.
Here are somethings that Gavin has been up to.( I just love his name)

Gavin loves to go outside. Whenever I open the door he comes walking as fast as his little body can go. Sometimes, I have to close the door before he gets there. He usually cries, but the weather does not permit him to go outside all the time.
About a month ago I started giving him cow milk. To my surprise he has taken to it pretty well.
Gavin's loves sandwiches his favorite are PB&J and Grilled cheese.
I started having the boys watch "Signing Time" videos mmainly to help the younger boys learn to communicate better and hopefully help Matthew with his temper. Well, Gavin has caught on to some of the signs which is pretty incredible for me. He can sign "baby" and "all done". I know this is not a ton, but it is a start. We will still have to work with Matthew on his temper.
He loves to grab Jason's glasses. Two Saturdays ago I had to get Jason's glasses repaired because Gavin grabbed them Jason tried to grab them back and it was a big fight and the glasses lost. So we had to get the glasses unbent. We were home not even an hour and they were fighting again. So, I guess I will have to back to Costco to get them fixed. Sheesh who knew a one year old could be so destructive.
He has learned how to go up the stairs. Now all we need to is work on going down without hurting our self in the process. Face first is a big no-no.
Gavin enjoys looking at books but when it comes to me reading a book he only can stand may be a minute then he is off and running.
I no longer need an alarm clock. Gavin goes to bed by 7:00 and wakes up by 6:00. If he goes to bed later than 7:00 he is a disaster.
He loves eating with a fork. Well, I should say a fork or spoon in one hand and the food in the other. The food and spoon/fork never meet he just likes having one like us. His philosophy is no fork/spoon no eat.
Gavin is like a tornado. When he is asleep our house a little cleaner. As soon as he wakes up there are pots and pans all over the place and if he can help it food from the pantry too.Sometimes I wonder why I even bother cleaning up.
His favorite toy is a leaf. He loves to just look at them and walk all around with one in his hand.
Gavin loves his older brothers so much.

Potty Training Break

2009-10-15T21:39:00.001-07:00

Over the last few months we have been working with out dear sweet Matthew on potty training. We have tried everything. I started offering M&M's that worked for a little while. But, it got kinda expensive when other people kept eating them. Then, I tried the look at clues one. Well, that only works if we are always in the same room. Our new place has more than one room, so that got a little difficult. And there is no way I can be with him all the time. So, I thought well maybe I will try taking him every 30 minutes to use the potty. That worked for a half a day. Then, he went on strike. Every time I would take him to use the potty it was like I was taking him to timeout or something really horrible. He would scream and run away. And for anyone that knows Matthew his so stubborn, if he does not want to do something there is nothing that you can do make him. One example of his stubbornness. Every morning I offer him two outfits to chose to wear that day. After waiting for what seems for ever he goes into his dresser and picks something totally different out. And usually it is not weather appropriate.
So, I was reading my friends blog and she was explaining what they are doing with their wonderful toddler. She does not even say the word "potty" until he can wake up from a nap dry. Then, once they wake up she takes him to the potty. I think this is a great idea because you know their little bladders are so full. I have a feeling this approach will work. Now, all I have to do is remember to not say "potty" in our house for a while. I think that is going to be the hardest because we have been working on it for so long. I think this will be a good thing, I need a break from the stress and I also need to find Indiana Jones Underwear. I promised him I would buy him some when he was potty trained. I should have looked before I promised dang they are super hard to find.
Well, he may not be potty trained but he can sure ride his bike very well. (when his helmet is not covering his eyes) I was told he makes the best lego buildings in nursery. So, I guess he has those things mastered.

Bug Killers!!

2009-10-09T22:01:00.000-07:00

Since I am such a good blogger I thought I would post something that happen a month ago. I meant to post it earlier, but just forgot. Kaylee, Caleb, and Ethan were over at our house playing with the boys when this happened. I had to run inside to grab something when all of a sudden I heard Caleb and Matthew screaming in the backyard. So, I dropped what I was doing and came running when I saw them stomping on this poor little bug. As they would stomp they would scream. They were not really screaming as much as laughing as the bug tried to run away from these wonderful toddlers. If our camera was not such a pain in the butt I would have video taped it, but oh well. Pictures will have to tell the story.Here they are examining the bug (it was a big bug)
Then they both started stomping on this bug

Then they had to double check to see if it was dead. Nope!

Then Matthew coached Caleb on where to stomp

Then they called me over to make sure they had killed it.
They did. It took like 2-3 minutes for this bug to die. It was so funny. By the time
they were done killing it Ethan was the only one that still wanted to see it. I think
he wanted to stomp on it too he even went to put his shoes back on.

Teddy Bear Parade

2009-10-09T21:35:00.000-07:00

I have been a horrible blogger. But, I have a good excuse my three wonderful boys keep me so busy that by the end of the day I am beat.
The boys and I went to the Teddy Bear Parade in downtown Gresham. It was pretty fun. This is the second parade that I have taken Jason too. The other was in Iowa in November. The one here in Gresham was a lot warmer. The boys really liked watching all the kids walk by with their little teddies. We went empty handed. I guess ours are still packed away. Oh, well. Before the parade started everyone decided that they were hungry, even though they had eaten a big breakfast just an hour before. So, we all walked across the street to the Farmers Market and bought some donuts. I heard they were good! Gavin even liked them. To no shock after the parade they were still hungry an hour later.

He is learning

2009-09-20T14:51:00.000-07:00

Over the last few months I have been working with Matthew on some preschool stuff. We first started with letters, but he did not like that too much. So, we decided to do colors and play some color games with those paint samples you get at Home Depot. But, Gavin decided to eat them so now we just do it with crayons during Gavin's nap. Much safer. So I decided well let's do shapes. I started out with circles. Well, after a while I decided maybe he is just not ready for this type of stuff and we will stick with colors. Well, the other day Gavin was reorganizing my kitchen. This is a daily thing. Matthew decided to help him. Matthew would take out a kitchen tool and ask me what it was. I would tell, example a cookie, or a rack for cookies. Well, Gavin took out the Angel Food cake pan. Matthew took it away from him and asked me what it was. I was trying to think of an easy way to say it. So, I told him cake pan. He told me, "no mom, circle." He started to talk to Gavin and tell him it was a circle then he sang our circle song. I was so surprised he even remembered to show Gavin that it had no sides. He demonstrated it to him too. I was so excited he told Gavin look it is an "O". So, now everything is an "O" that is shaped like a circle.
I have been trying to have patience with him because I know all kids are different. Jason knew all the shapes and their sides by the time he was 3 1/2. Matthew is getting it he just is so stubborn. If he does not feel like doing something he won't. I am thankful, to have a different personality with each of my three kids. They make life interesting.

Fight For Preemies // Bloggers Unite

2009-09-17T08:11:00.001-07:00

Fight For Preemies // Bloggers Unite

Posted using ShareThis

First day of School

2009-09-13T20:42:00.000-07:00

Last week was Jason's first day of school. He is officially a second grader. He is attending Hogan-Cedars Elementary. It is almost a brand new school. I say almost because it is only 4 years old. Jason was really excited to start school. I love having him home, but I know that he was ready to go back. He was a little nervous, but after the first day he was so excited to go back. Jason has a wonderful teacher. Even though homework has been coming kinda slow for me we still have homework among ourselves.
Matthew on the other hand has not been too happy that Jason is back at school. He loves playing with Jason. Matthew cries everyday when we drop Jason off at the bus stop. We have been having school at home here. He seems to like it. I hope he is this excited when it is actually his turn to go.
I took some pictures of our yearly tradition of taking Jason to school. Jason takes the bus, but on the first day of school I always drop him off.
Gavin came too, but he did not care if his picture was taken or not.

Gavin is Ten Months

2009-09-02T08:30:00.001-07:00

Well, I have been a bad blogger the last few weeks. I hope to start up again. Starting with this entry. Our little Gavin is growing so big. He is now ten months old and can do so many things.
Here are a few:

Gavin can walk. He still likes to crawl, but he can get up on his two little feet and walk.
He has finally decided that he does not like baby food. Well at least the mushed stuff. It took him a while but that is okay.
He loves to crawl in the tub when his older brothers are taking a shower. However, he will not take a bath in the tub by himself.
He loves to play outside. We have a little play structure thing and he loves to crawl on it and play.
He thinks he is old enough to play with legos. Too bad they are so small.
I am thankful he is getting better at sleeping through the night. Well, okay myabe only until 3:30ish but he is getting a lot better ever since he is in his own room. I don't know how people co-sleep with their kids. I need my space.
He loves to read our favorite book "Goodnight Moon" just before going to bed.
Gavin can say mama and dada even though he has not said for a week or so.
He has one tooth and a bunch more coming in thank goodness for our teething pills. Our little heroes
He loves to go for walks. We live near a park and the boys and I go walking every day. Well, almost everyday.

We moved!!

2009-08-22T22:40:00.000-07:00

We have finally moved out of the guest house. We enjoyed our stay there, but it was just a little to tight for a family of five. We now have a place here in Gresham. We are really enjoying our new home. We have a three bedroom with 1.5 baths and a large backyard. The kitchen is a little small, but that is okay because I am the only one that really cooks anyway. The boys love their new place too. Jason and Matthew are sharing a room. Gavin is in a room by himself. I really like that part. I love my kids but, it was driving me crazy having Gavin in my room. He seems to enjoy his room too. We are also using his room as our office as that is what it will be when he is out.
We had some wonderful memories during our stay in Oregon city. It will always be a big part of our family history.

Our family vacation to California

2009-08-03T09:37:00.001-07:00

The boys drinking a Milk Shake Yum Yum!

My dad found this dog on his walk.
We wanted to take it home it was so cute.
But it was not very kid friendly. It kept biting Matthew.

We don't have a bathtub here. The
boys loved taking a bath at the Grandparents.

The beautiful San Diego Temple.
A missionary couple took these pictures for us.

More pictures to come.

Our Family Vacation

2009-07-14T21:10:00.001-07:00

On July 3rd the boys and I left for California. We have enjoyed ourselves so much. On Friday Brian left Arizona and traveled all night to get to my parents house. He was able to sleep for a couple of hours then we all had to leave for San Diego. It usually takes three hours to get from Lancaster to San Diego. Well, for us it took us six hours. We had super bad traffic and the boys were not to happy about travling so much. Gavin cried a bit, but he is getting use to the travling more.
On Sunday, we were able to the beautiful San Diego temple. The nice elderly couple that was there took a picture of us in front of the temple. We also did some more sight seeing around San Diego. San Diego is so beautiful. After we did some sightseeing we went to my cousin Rich's wedding. It was so pretty. I am so proud of him. He married such a sweet wonderful girl. The ceremony was at Balboa Park. It was nice to have a break from our boys. My aunt and uncle set up a babysitter for us.
Monday we took the boys to Sea World. They loved it. We went with all my aunts and uncles. My brother and sister-in-law, and mom and dad went also. The boys loved watching all the shows. They have been waiting for a couple of weeks to see The Shamu show. It was okay. Kinda disappointing we did not get wet and we sat right in front. Matthew was a little upset about not getting wet. After, the Cirque de la Mer show we decided to get some lunch. After lunch we were all just talking about what we were going to do next. When all of a sudden Brian asked me to help Matthew. He was bleeding kinda bad from his chin. I took one look at it and knew it was not good. I rushed him to the bathroom. Mike and Andrea rushed over with me. We knew he was going to need to go to the hospital. Mike called for the Sea World nurse. She came over what seemed forever. I guess it was because Brian had time to change his super poopy diaper. She took one look at his chin and told us that he had to go to the hospital to get it stiched up. The RN took us to the little First Aid place they have there. She cleaned it up a little and gave us directions to the Childrens Hospital of San Diego. She told us it would only take an hour and that we could come back. At first I was happy because we really wanted to come back, but then when we arrived at the er and saw how many kids were there I knew we would be there forever. Matthew ended up getting four stiches. Brian stayed in the room and I left with Gavin. The doctor only wanted one screaming baby at a time. They had to tie Matthew down to get the stiches in. After that we had decided that Matthew had had enough. Three hours later. I had.
So, besides going to the er we had a great trip so far. We will be heading back on Thursday. Matthew has to get unstiched on Monday.
I will post pictures later.

Blueberry time

2009-06-30T21:26:00.000-07:00

Today the boys and I went blueberry picking. We had so much fun! Jason and Matthew love blueberries. They are easy for the two of them to pick. When we first arrived at the blueberry farm Matthew went crazy. He was so excited to get picking, well I should say eating. The worker at the farm instructed us that they wanted us to pick the Early blue ones. Well, I parked the car near some other variety hoping that Gavin could sleep a little bit while we picked near the ones they wanted us too. That plan ended when Jason hit Gavin in the head as he was getting out of the car and the worker told us that we had to pick from the bushes farther away. As the worker was talking to us Matthew was shoving the wrong variety of blueberries in his mouth. I think he had like ten in his mouth at one time. Jason and Matthew were good little pickers however, I think they ate more then they actually put in their little bowls (The picture was taken 15 minutes after we started). Gavin was a good little trooper until he saw the boys eating berries. He wanted some so bad. I tried giving him some without the skin. He was not happy.He wanted to reach out and get some too. I don't think he realizes he is only eight months old and he can't go from eating mush to eating things that are shaped like little balls. I finally had Jason feed him some Cheerios he was happy. We ended up picking 6 pounds of blueberries which cost us $6.00. I know that when Brian gets back we will have to go back and get more. Our family loves them and they freeze well.
I have to include this. While we were picking Matthew would run up the row and then run back down. As he was running back down he would grab a ton of berries from each bush and shove them in his mouth.It was so funny. He also kept picking green ones and eating them.

It's HOT!

2009-06-27T13:16:00.000-07:00

Ugh. I can't stand the heat. I hate the desert. Especially now... as the temperatures outside have consistently been over 100 lately. Whenever I get in the car I burn my hands on the steering wheel, and there aren't very many trees here to park under. And if that's not bad enough, Monday afternoon our air conditioner stopped working. Currently it's just me and my landlord living here, and as it turns out, he's been out of town for over a week, and won't be back until next Monday. I've told him about the A/C problem, but he can't get it fixed until he gets back (it's got something to do with pest control getting rid of our bees in the attic and making sure that's clear before the A/C repairman can go up there)... so basically, by the time things get cooler around here I will have survived an entire week in the Arizona desert without air conditioning! It's tolerable, but I will say it's not very conducive to studying. It's currently 97 degrees... inside the house! (So please, Stephanie, no more complaining about how hot it's getting in Oregon these days...) I've even tried cooling off by taking a cold shower a few times, but the problem with this is that we don't really have such a thing as cold water anymore, unless it comes out of the refrigerator. The good news is I've only got to endure two more weeks and then I'll be able to enjoy weather that is 30 degrees cooler!

UPDATE: The thermostat reading apparently maxes out at 99. My alarm clock has a built-in thermometer, and I have noticed it's usually a few degrees cooler in my bedroom (which is downstairs) than it is upstairs (which is where the thermostat is). Today after church I observed a new record temperature in my bedroom (93.6), but the thermostat upstairs was still at 99, same as it was yesterday, even though I expected it to be at least 100 up there. So I took my alarm clock upstairs to get a more accurate temperature, and this is what I saw: 102 degrees!

Boys will be Boys!

2009-06-23T21:52:00.000-07:00

Our sons crack me up. Here are some of the things they have been doing over the last few days.

Jason and Matthew: love collecting caterpillars. It seems like the caterpillars love our little play structure. Over the last few weeks every morning the older boys have gone out and found at least a couple of caterpillars. We have a bug collector dish thing and they put the bugs in it.(Well, I should say we had a bug collector dish thing. It broke this afternoon.) The boys have recruited their cousin Caleb to help collect caterpillars. Unfortunately caterpillars are not toddler-proof. They get squashed very easily.
Jason received a ball for his birthday. The ball has these spike things on it. Gavin is kinda afraid of it. I took a picture because it was too funny.
Matthew can now say a four to five word sentence all on his own. His first official sentence was "mom I want a cookie."
We have had such a crazy few days. I wanted to make sure I wrote on our blog before I forgot.

Enjoying the nice weather

2009-06-15T22:23:00.000-07:00

Couple weeks I took some picture of the boys. I thought I would post them here on our blog. I bought them a sprinkler toy. Jason really liked, Matthew took a while to adjust but he came around to it. For some reason we do not have swim shorts for Matthew, but underwear worked just fine.
Also, after looking high and low for a pair of sun glasses for Gavin. We finally found a pair. I thought it would be good because they had a little band thing on it so he would not take it off. Well, that lasted a minute. Crazy kid! Well enjoy how cute they look because after only having them for a week we lost them. So, we are on to another pair, but of course the weather has not been so sunny.
I also painted my toe nails and Matthew wanted his painted too. So, since Brian is not here there was not a problem . His toes looked so cute.

Jason's Birthday Party

2009-06-15T21:46:00.000-07:00

On Saturday we celebrated Jason's birthday. We decided to do a Star Wars Jedi Training party. At first I was not sure how to do one. But, thanks to the internet Jason got to have a wonderful birthday party. I made the invitations. They turned out pretty neat. With the boys help I made a pinata. It was the death star. It took a little time each day since I made two just case. But I think it was worth it. I also made light sabers for all the kids. They loved them. If they could play light sabers the whole time they would have been happy. We had pizza and Yoda punch. The pizza was good but the Yoda punch was pretty bad. I think next time I will just do juice. I kinda felt bad because this was the one time that I let my kids drink soda (there was soda in the punch) and it was horrible. Oh well, Jason does not like soda anyway he always says that it is spicy because of the carbonation. I made a light saber cake. I made that also. It turned out alright. However, one kid told me that I made a fake cake. I was like what? "He told me it was not made from real frosting." "I told him it was real right from the box and carton to you." I had no time to make a cake from scratch I went through three boxes of cake mixes before I figured out how to do it just right. We played some wonderful games they were: unfreeze Han Solo. I froze Han Solo and had the kids divide up into two different groups and dunk him water until he was out of the ice. Then they had to free Princesses Leia from the Death Star. The kids had to pop some black balloons and in one of them was a girl lego person with hair. I was informed that she did not look like Princesses Leia I told the kids to use their imaginations. The kids also helped Darth Vader find his Light Saber. I bought a star wars poster and made some Light Sabers with craft sticks. Then, the kids tried to place the light saber in Darth Vader's hand. Overall I say the party went great. I sure could not have done with out the help of two wonderful parents. In the morning my friend Michelle came over early and helped me with some of the decorations and even changed a diaper for me. Then, during the party Ellie watch the younger boys. Without the help of these two wonderful ladies, I would have been stressed out beyond belief. I am glad that I have such wonderful friends and that my kids do too.

Fresh Strawberries

2009-06-03T13:46:00.001-07:00

Anyone that is reading this 10 days left until the u-pick it strawberries will be ready. I can't wait. We love them and they make great jam.

Jason is Seven

2009-06-02T21:18:00.000-07:00

Today, Jason turned seven years old. I can't believe how fast seven years have gone by. He has turned into such a wonderful young boy. He is about to finish the first grade. He has been working so hard.
We had a great little family party tonight. He received some wonderful presents. His favorite of course were the legos.
Here are some of the things that our little guy has accomplished this year.

He has become a little monkey. Jason loves to climb the tree in our front yard.
Jason loves playing with his little brothers. They love playing with him.
He built his first snowman.
Jason took a reading test during the school year. He got the highest grade of any other first grader in the school.He was ranked the best reader.
He got his first pair of sun glasses
He got to have a bunny for a pet. Well, at least for an hour.
Jason has helped out so much while Brian has been in Arizona.
He is learning to serve others and preparing to be baptized next year.

We are so thankful to have Jason in our family. I could not imagine our family without him.

I'm 7 months

2009-05-29T19:44:00.001-07:00

I am now seven months old. Here are seven new things about me.

1. I have been a crawling machine the last couple of weeks. I no longer stay still and play with my little toys while my mom takes a shower. So, no more long morning showers mom.

2. I love to play outside. The other day I went outside with my brothers and friend Ethan. The two of us kinda fought over our little car toy. My mom thought it was cute.

3. I have two favorite foods. For breakfast I love to eat Muesli. Then for a morning snack I love my Baby Mum-Mums. I am learning to go longer without nursing. So, in the morning I get to eat a bowl of wonderful Muesli, nurse and then take my nap. After my nap at snack time I get to eat my Mum-Mums.
4. I can crawl through out little tunnel. It is so much fun! P.S. I also like crawling under my brothers bed.

5. I am starting to not like strangers, but my mom is going to put and end to that. Watch out Grandma and Aunt Ellie here I come!
6. I can pull myself up. I know all you know that because my mom posted a picture of me. Just so all you know I did fall asleep two minutes later. I lost my pacifier and mom helped me find it.
7. I enjoy my mom becoming a Betty Crocker. Lately she has been baking some wonderful breads. I love it when I get to try a little piece. Thanks Aunt Ellie and Holly!
P.S.S. My dad comes home in six weeks I we all can't wait to see the person I have been talking to on the computer.

Us

2009-05-26T16:22:00.001-07:00

Brian has been taking pictures of us while we have been talking to him. This is a little collection of the pictures taken.

Cry Baby

2009-05-24T19:11:00.000-07:00

I took this picture today while Gavin was getting ready to take his morning nap. I thought it was kinda cute. Gavin has been having a little hard time sleeping in the crib. He is getting better now he only cries for a couple of minutes. Then I will go in and give him a pacifier and he will go to sleep. He can now pull himself up. It is so funny.

What a Wonderful Friday!

2009-05-15T21:16:00.000-07:00

Today was such a nice day. It has been a while since the weather has been nice. Okay well, maybe like a week. I just would like summer or even spring to arrive here in Oregon. I had all the kiddo's go outside and play. They had so much fun that I had to take some pictures. For those that don't know on Friday's we have my friend Ellie's children over. My boys love playing with their kids. I found it funny all the different age groups play. I am glad that they all had fun in their own way.

The price of Tuna is Outrages

2009-05-08T11:11:00.000-07:00

So, today I was thinking about what to have for lunch. I remembered that I purchased a can of tuna yesterday. I started to get really mad! I realized that I paid 1.50 for 5oz. Just last year you could purchase a can of 6oz tuna for 1.25. So, now you get less but you have to pay more. That just bites.

p.s. we purchase the albercore tuna the other stuff is just for casseroles.

Busy, Busy.

2009-05-07T20:44:00.000-07:00

I need to be working on my lesson for Sunday. Matthew is crying in his bed and Gavin is playing I have decided to write a blog entry instead. We have had such a busy day today. I think it would not have been so busy if we did not spend an hour at the doctors. Gavin had his sixth month check up today. Gavin weighs 18 1/2 pounds and is almost 28 inches. He is in the 75-80% for weight and 90% for height. I was kinda worried because everyone says he is "so big". Our doctor told me he was not too big. I was happy to know that he is on schedule and maybe a little ahead of schedule for his development. He is better sitter then most babies his age and he can scoot backwards really well. As I was writing this he was scooting himself backwards.(I am glad he was going backwards I have lost a couple of pages in my scriptures already). After hearing this I realize that there is no substitute for good tummy time. The nurse told me that too many parents are not doing tummy time because their babies cry. So after waiting for like a half hour because our doctor was at the hospital. I don't know why we made a 9:00 appointment anyway. Like our mornings are not crazy enough. Now all we have to do is deal with the lovely aftermath of the shots. I'd rather deal with a little crying now then have him sick with one of those horrible illnesses.

Well, now that Matthew has finished crying himself to sleep and Gavin has just fallen asleep I should work on my lesson. Until next time.

No Paci Bag

2009-05-02T20:40:00.001-07:00

Matthew has made it one whole week without having a pacifier. This week I have decided that we need to get Matthew out of the habit of having his beloved pacifier. When he wakes up in the morning or from his nap he cannot get out of bed unless he puts his paci in the paci bag. At first it was hard for him, but he now knows that if he wants to play he has to give it up. We are still letting him have it at nap time and bedtime I need my sleep. He is talking more and acting so much more grown up. I am so proud of him. I am glad I got this idea from a friend. I took some pictures because he looks so cute.
p.s. If Ellie is reading this we would like to thank Kaylee for teaching Matthew the color pink.

Gavin is Six Months Old

2009-05-02T20:05:00.000-07:00

I am now six months old here are six things I can do.
1. Roll over from front to back and back to front. (this makes getting my diaper changed a little bit tricky).
2. I love to eat baby food. I like to eat baby food in the morning and at night.
3. I have learned how to scoot backwards. Now only if I could learn how to go forward.
4. I love to take baths.
5.Last week I caught my first cold. I had a hard week. But, now I feel better and so does my mom now she can get more sleep.
6. I love talking to my dad on our webcam. He is so silly.
I have also learned six new things in my short six months here on earth.
1. My cousin Ethan loves to tackle me. One day I will be just as big as he is.
2. Teething Biscuits are so good! Until they get too small and my mom takes them away.

3. Anything that goes in my hand must go in the mouth.
4. I can entertain myself for a while in the morning so my mom can help my older brother get ready for school. Life is less crazy this way.
5. I have noticed that there is a sun and it does shine here in Oregon. I just can't figure out why my older brother has to wear rain boots when there is no rain.
6. I know that I am loved by my wonderful family.

Are these toy age appropriate?

2009-04-29T13:43:00.000-07:00

Today while I was making cookies I took a glance over at our little guys. I noticed that they were playing so well by themselves. Then, I took a second look and realized they should probably not be playing the toys they are playing with. Legos are for children 4 and up. And the train are for ages 12 months and up. Oh, well. I just thought it was so cute.And besides they really like these types of toys.

Memories

2009-04-22T20:45:00.000-07:00

As a baby Jason required two pacifiers to go to sleep. One for his mouth and one for his hand.(sometimes one for each hand) Well tonight I was trying to get Gavin to go to sleep. We want him to go to sleep on his own, no rocking or nursing to sleep. Well, tonight he decided he was going to be a stubborn. So, I decided maybe it was time he learned to cry himself to sleep. So, after having him cry for a little while. I went in to check on him. I noticed that he had a pacifier in his hand, I tried to take it away and put it in his mouth. That got him very upset. I told him, " I am not going to pick up it is time for bed". So, I looked around for another pacifier to put in his mouth. I found one and a minute later he was asleep. So,it just reminded me of our Jason. I checked on him an hour later and he still had the pacifier in his hand and the other in his mouth. What ever works!

Pictures from our trip

2009-04-22T15:32:00.000-07:00

Our train trip

2009-04-22T13:30:00.000-07:00

During Spring break in March the boys and I took a little train trip down to my parents house in California. We had a lot fun. We met so many different kinds of people during our 28 hour train trip.(that is 28 hours there and 28 hours home) On our way down we met a lady and her 2 year old daughter. They were traveling to San Diego. We also met tons of older ladies that wanted to hold our baby. There was one that sat down in the seat next to me and begged me for a chance to hold him. I let her, but I am glad she sat down. She had a little too much to drink. In, fact every time we saw her she really stunk. And on our way back we met a lady that was traveling to Oregon to finish school and meet up with her family in Oregon. We also met a very sad man. He was leaving California because it was not "white enough". He was such a jerk. At the train station in LA, I prayed that he was in a different car. But, wouldn't you know it he was in our car. Thank goodness he was in the back far away from me. Otherwise, I might have been thrown off the train for slapping him. The train started in Seattle, we picked it up here in Portland. The train went down through Oregon, into California. We saw tons of farms. Then it went along the coast until it stopped in LA. My favorite part was seeing the beautiful coast. The boys liked Salinas best. They are known for their strawberry fields. It was a beautiful trip. The boys slept well on the train. The only hard part was when we got up to walk around. I had to put on the baby carrying thing. It was hard. Gavin really did not like it too much. And it hurt my back. He is a big baby. I am glad I only had to do it for a little bit. I could not have done it the entire trip.

Once upon a time...

2009-04-08T21:59:00.000-07:00

Once upon a time there was a six year boy named Jason.

Who decided that he would take his two year old brother named Matthew on a ride. In a wagon that looked like this.

Up a driveway that looked this.

Then, after realizing he had gone too high he let his brother go down the driveway. ALONE!
After flipping over and falling out of the wagon. The two year old walked away with a couple of bruises. After going crazy the lovely mom realized that the toddler was "one lucky bug!" Oh boy.

And they lived happily ever after. Until the next crisis.
The End.

Another beautiful day!

2009-04-06T12:37:00.000-07:00

The last few days we have had such wonderful weather here in Oregon. Yesterday when we took Gavin out to play I finally figured out how the video feature works on our camera. I thought I would take a little video of Gavin. We have a swing outside that the use. Yesterday, we put Gavin in it. It was a little different for him because his swing indoors goes sideways and the swig outdoors goes back and forth. So, I took a little video of it.

Legos! Legos!

2009-04-04T16:45:00.000-07:00

Today while we were out I saw a sign for a Garage Sale. So, i stopped by just to check it out. I am looking for a few things and I never like paying retail price for anything! So, I was looking around and saw a backpack. Jason needs a new one, but $10 please too much $$! So, I looked down and saw this lego mountain type of thing. I asked the lady how much she wanted for this Lego thing. She told "wait!", "I have some Legos to go with that". So, I waited. Boy, she took forever! I had the boys in the car waiting for me. I ran to check on them. (I learned last year garage sales and Matthew don't mix) So, finally she came out. I asked her how much she wanted for the box of legos. I was sure I did not have enough cash on me. She asked me what I thought. I said I don't know I have 10 bucks on me. She said how about 8. I was like cool. So, I came back to the car with Legos and a bunch of Lego magazines. All the boys were really happy. Even Gavin, he needed to be saved. Well, since I bought them like at 10:30 the boys have played with them. They gave me 2 hours of silence. I was able to clean my house finish laundry.(Well the laundry is still hanging out to dry). I took a couple of pictures of the boys. I made them play outside because it is such a nice day.
I thought I would even throw in a picture of the boys playing Legos with my dad during our vacation.

Brotherly Love

2009-03-31T13:23:00.000-07:00

This morning I had it all planned out I was going to change the boys sheets. Then, I got out of the shower and Matthew was crying. I figured it was because he lost his blanket or something like that. So, I kinda ignored him for a minute. Then, I went to check on him after a couple minutes and he had taken off his diaper and the bed was wet! I guess since I had no where I needed to be today there was always time to wash all the bedding.

As I was waiting for the laundry. I had time to sit down on the floor and play with my younger boys. I really enjoy the time I have with my three boys. I also enjoy watching them play with each other and by themselves. I feel very blessed that all three can play with me, other and also entertain themselves for a few minutes.

Another week gone by!

2009-03-29T21:15:00.000-07:00

It seems like the weeks go by so fast. They boys and I returned home from our trip to California on Wednesday. We had such a wonderful time with my family. They were able to see our sweet Gavin. They really enjoyed seeing him along with the older boys. I enjoyed having some time to relax once we got to my parents house. It has been a while since I could just let someone else watch the boys and just enjoy myself. I also enjoyed the company of other adults. With Brian gone I really do not get to talk to other adults that much, so I get kinda lonely sometimes. I can't wait for my Brian to come home. ( I will post pictures of our trip in a couple of days).

On to what happened this week with our cute and wonderful boys.

Jason lost two teeth this week. He lost one while we were on our trip in California and then his lovely brother Matthew punched him in the face and he lost his other lower tooth on Saturday.

Matthew has been working on potty training this week. I started him the day after we came home from our vacation. This something I had planned, I did not want to do it before we went. Those toilets on the train are really gross! So, far we are doing pretty well. He has gone a couple of times. This evening we had a little set-back when the potty thing kinda broke. I fixed it but, he thought he was going to fall in. So, he was done. We will work on it some more. There is no time frame.

Gavin is growing so fast! He will be five months old tomorrow. This week his big achievement has been sitting up. And boy does he love it! I think in a couple of weeks he will not need the boppy anymore. He wants to sit all the time and just watch his older brothers play. Today, Gavin realized that there are other babies at church. He was playing with the little girl behind us during relief society. It was just too cute. He is getting to be such a big boy. He kinda scared me yesterday he slept from 9:30 until almost 5:00. He was very hungry when he woke up even after nursing he still wanted something more. Thank goodness for solids he really likes them. I figured out that he does better with solids at breakfast time and dinner time.

Just a few things

2009-03-12T21:29:00.000-07:00

The boys and I are leaving for a wonderful train trip to California on Saturday. I want to post before we leave and write a few things that have been going on in our little family.
On Monday I had this a meeting with Jason's teachers and the resource people at Jason's school. The teachers are having a hard time keeping him focused and doing his work on time. So, the wonderful teacher told the resource people that she thought there might be something wrong with Jason. Well, the resource people let the teachers know that he is only 6 and that they really need to find a way to get him to do his work on their own. Because he was too smart for their services. It turns out that Jason is the best reader in all of the first grade. There are three classes. He is also at the top in Math and spelling. It is awesome because when he was in the NICU they told us that he would need extra help during the school years.
Tuesday I learned that when you leave a toddler unattended he might do things that you never dreamed of. Not only does he like to eat markers he has come to like water paints as well. I guess they taste good and to wash it down there is always the brush water. I hope they were non-toxic! (in the picture notice the bowl is empty) On thursday he also tried some fabric softener. I came in our laundry room and Matthew had fabric softener on his hand and told me "yuk Mom". Yeah you think!
Gavin is four and half months now. He is doing awesome. On Thursday we finished trying all the different vegetables that he can eat at this age. He really likes the sweet potatoes, the squash and the carrots. We will have to work on the green beans and peas. On Thursday he also decided that he does not like Rice Cereal anymore. Thanks to our wonderful doctor that suggested I give him Oatmeal he no long wants Rice. I sneak it in anyway.
On Wednesday we had a little scare Gavin forgot that he only needs to wake up once during the night and woke up like almost three or four times. I tried giving him a little bigger pacifier. I guess he did not like it because he cried a lot. Well, the next night we were back to our old ones and he was back to waking up only once. I love it! Gavin can almost sit for minute. I was hoping he would be like Jason and be content to lay on his tummy. But, I guess he will be like Matthew sitting by 5 months.
As for me I am working hard on getting ready for our trip to California. It takes a lot of work to get three little ones ready for train trip.
Brian just finished his mid-terms and he did awesome. He just so smart. We are so proud of all his hard work.

Matthew's scary moment

2009-03-07T22:15:00.000-08:00

We had a scary thing happen today. Today I took the boys to a little park. As we were getting ready too leave Matthew decided he would walk close to the little river type thing they had there. I tried to stop him before he got too close. Well, I did not realize that the edge of the water was so close. By the time I reached him he had fallen in the water. At first I did not think it was going to be too bad he would just get right back up and I would pull him out. However, the water was a lot deeper then I thought. I had to jump in and get my poor dear Matthew out. It was really scary seeing you son struggling to get up out of the water. I was so afraid that he was going to drown. I am glad was able to get him out. He was pretty scared. This reminds me of the time my mom jumped into my Aunt Mary Jane and Uncle Bill's pool to save me. She had her dress on.

Just some random things

2009-03-04T20:35:00.000-08:00

Today Matthew and I went shopping outside in the garage for some summer clothes for him. We found some wonderful clothes that he can wear now which is just awesome. It is always nice to have new clothes even if they are almost five years old. I am really glad we kept all of Jason's stuff. I took this picture of Matthew, it seems like all my boys think that underwear goes on your head. I guess this is a start. He has more important things to do then go potty in the toilet. Like eat markers. He always wants to do homework with Jason. Yesterday he decided that he could not wait any longer for dinner to be done. I thought it was a cute.

Jason had Dr. Seuss day yesterday. So, I had to take a picture of him in his hat and tie that he made in school. Jason really likes to read Dr. Seuss books.

This week we are working on getting Gavin on a nap schedule. It is so hard when I have tons of things to do. I guess we will work on it more as he gets older.

A Week of First Things

2009-02-19T12:24:00.000-08:00

We have had one crazy week of firsts in our little family. They go as follows:

Jason and Matthew: Learned that we can get bloody noses when one kicks the other in the face, even if he the one kicking is only two. This is why.

Jason: Had his first spelling test today, well it was like a pre-test if you got all the words right then there is no test on Monday. He missed one.

Matthew:got his first sit n' spin both boys really enjoyed it.

Gavin: have found his thumb. I am working on having him not
suck on his thumb. I can take away a pacifier, but a thumb is a little harder. I have also started Gavin on solids this week. It has worked wonders. He was ready for them. This is the earliest I have ever started any of my kids on solids, but waking up every other hour to eat was taking a toll on me. And I figured what is really a week in half. He will be four months soon. So, on Monday I started giving him some rice cereal mixed with like 95% of my milk.He is now back to waking up once during the night which is awesome!! Gavin is staying up all morning but, I don't care because I am not trying to sleep during the morning hours. He really likes the cereal, he knows that when the spoon comes near his mouth he needs to open it for some food. I don't know why I did not take the Grandmas advice with my other kids.

I have personal learned with Gavin to trust my mother's instinct. With my oldest I did everything by the book or as well as one can with a Preemie. Then, with Matthew I used it a little less and now with Gavin I don't even know where I put the baby book. I think with every child you learn more and more to go with the wonderful spirit that our Father in Heaven has given us. I am relaxing more with my kids, for the first six months it was a little difficult trying to adjust to be both mom and dad. We sure can't wait for Brian to come home in August. We love him so much.

Gavin's bath

2009-02-12T16:35:00.000-08:00

This is for our daddy who is in Arizona, sorry about the nudity.

Gavin Blessing outfit Video

2009-02-12T16:26:00.000-08:00

I thought i would experiment with the video feature

Gavin is three months old

2009-02-03T20:48:00.000-08:00

Gavin turned three months old the same day that Matthew turned 2 years old. Gavin is getting so big. I thought I would take a few minutes and update his progress. He can now tolerate being on his stomach. For the first few months he did not really like it. But, I don't know that any of our kids really enjoyed being on their stomach. But, tummy time is very important. So, they adjust to it in the end. He can hold his head up for like 10 minutes which I think is so awesome. Gavin is putting himself to sleep. Usually after a little rocking and a song I put him bed and he falls asleep on his own. He usually goes to sleep for the night around 8:30 and he will sleep until 2:00ish for a feeding and won't wake up again until 5:30 or 6:00. He has the cutest smile. I believe he is very unique he has one eye that is not all the way blue. It is hard to explain, but a quarter of one eye is brown and the rest is blue. He will have this the rest of his life. I will try to take a picture so it can been seen better. It is not serious, but he will have to see the eye doctor throughout his life just to make sure it does not become cancerous, because like less than 5% do. He also has an astigmatism in each eye that will be corrected when he can wear contacts. I just love this little boy.

Can you guess who I am?

2009-02-03T20:27:00.000-08:00

Our two younger boys look a lot alike. I was looking for some pictures to put on the blog and I almost got the two boys mixed up. Can you guess who is Gavin and who Matthew?

Matthew's 2nd Birthday

2009-02-03T13:58:00.000-08:00

Last Friday we celebrated Matthew's 2nd birthday. Wow, time sure goes fast! He has grown up so quickly. We had Kaylee and Caleb over for the birthday party. Mainly, we just had pizza, fruit and cupcakes. Matthew got an awesome puzzle and a big wheel. I should know that one big wheel four children trouble. Everyone wanted to use it. Oh, well. Matthew had so much help opening his presents. Jason and Kaylee were so eager to help him. Here are some pictures of the birthday. The helpers My First Bike

Dinner with our Buddies

2009-01-29T08:33:00.000-08:00

Let's chow down!

Every Friday the boys and get to have dinner with our friends Kaylee, Caleb and Ethan. Last week we had ravioli, veggies and pudding for dessert. Caleb and Matthew are both the same age. So, usually that means the same type of mess. So, I had to take pictures because they were so funny. I love these kids.

"No, no this is how you get messy!" Kaylee and Jason want some

prepared

2009-01-21T08:45:00.000-08:00

I took this picture yesterday before Matthew, Gavin and I went to the grocery store. I wonder if Matthew is trying to let me know that I am a bad driver. He wore his rain boots(even when there was not a cloud in the sky) and his bike helmet to Fred Meyer. Matthew would not let me take it off. Matthew was excited to see Grandma at the store too.

Jason is just so awesome

2009-01-10T14:43:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I was watching the show Maternity Ward or something like that on the Discovery channel. They were talking about how this lady was going to have a premature baby. I am always interested in listening because Jason was a preemie. I was listening and heard the ob tell the reporter or who ever it was that they do not allow super preemies to be born breeched (especially ones that are born butt first) because their heads are the biggest part of their bodies and the head will get stuck in cervix and die. Which was such an eye opener to me. For those reading this and do not know Jason was born at home (NOT PLANNED) 13 weeks early. Brian helped deliver him. Jason was born breeched butt first. I feel so blessed that nothing happened to him during the birthing process. He is truly our little miracle.They told us that he had 70-80% of surviving, but he had to make it past the first 48 hours. They told us that he would a ton of medical and developmental problems if he did live. Well, I guess he proved them wrong he only currently suffers from asthma which is not too bad. I am so thankful for all the doctors and nurses that worked around the clock and so hard to keep him alive.
p.s. sorry for the small pictures just click on them and they bigger.

Gavin is nine weeks old!

2009-01-09T13:24:00.000-08:00

Gavin is getting so BIG! Yesterday we went to an appointment and the nurse told me that is 13 pounds. He such a chunk! Gavin is sleeping so well now sometimes it is scary. The last few nights he has woken up only twice. Gavin goes to bed by 9 and he wakes up to eat at 2 and then again around 5 which is when i need to start thinking about waking up. So you could say he is my alarm clock without a snooze button. He is doing so well at raising his head off the floor. He is our first to really enjoy tummy time. He loves to watch me vacuum the floors he will follow the light on the vacuum. Time just goes by so fast! I am working on enjoying every minute I have with our boys. Sometimes it is a little more stressed then others, but they are fun to be with.
I know it looks like he does not like tummy time here it is only because Matthew was climbing on him to get in the picture too. So here is Matthew too.

Gavin blessing outfit

2009-01-08T21:50:00.001-08:00

Gavin Blessing outfit

2009-01-08T21:44:00.000-08:00

I think this outfit is just too cute. I have added these pictures of Gavin in his blessing outfit. Don't look at the one with me too close Brian too it when I was not ready!

posting at last

2009-01-08T21:39:00.001-08:00

Posting at last

2009-01-07T21:12:00.000-08:00

It has been way too long since I last blogged, so instead of writing a super long blog of what has happened in our family over the last few weeks. I have decided to give the Readers Digest version of the last month.
Last month we received over 18 inches of snow. Which is not too bad if you live in a place where they are ready for it. TOO bad Oregon City is not. So, we stayed in our house for almost two weeks only leaving for a couple of days when it was not snowing to get the things we needed. It's funny of all the important things a mom would need, I kept forgetting to buy more diapers for our baby. Thank goodness for our Grandpa and Uncle Josh. So, after 18 inches of snow you would think we were done oh no then came the ice storm which did not work too well with the trees around here. I am suppose to be making this short sorry. A tree fell on the power line and broke IT. So, we were without power for four days. It went out Sunday Dec. 21 morning and came back on late Wed. night. Yes Santa gave electricity for our Christmas present along with our daddy. We spent the four days at our Grandparents house in front of their fireplace trying to stay warm. We are so grateful for John (Grandpa) for working all day and night to keep the fire going so we would stay warm.
The boys and I went almost a whole week without a Shower it was so gross. Thanks to Ellie and Josh for letting us clean up at their place we were nice and clean for Christmas Eve.
We had a wonderful Christmas Brian was able to make it home on the 24th which was awesome. We had prayed he would, but we were no sure with all the bad weather. We spent Christmas Eve at Josh and Ellie's. Gavin was able to be blessed while Brian was here. It was so awesome because Gavin go to wear the same blessing outfit that Brian wore when he was a baby. The older boys loved hanging out with Brian. Well that is our Christmas break in a nut shell. We will always remember the Christmas we almost had no electricity, no showers, and no heat, but we had each other and that is truly what Christmas is all about.

Let it Snow! Let it Snow!

2008-12-14T13:38:00.000-08:00

Before we knew church was canceled.
The last few days the weather man has been telling us here in Oregon that it was going to snow. Well he was right! This morning as we were getting ready for church it started to snow. At first I thought it was just going to snow a little bit. So i continued to get the boys ready for church. After blow drying my hair. I decided to check and see if it was still snowing. Well, it was a whole lot of it. Thank goodness Linda saw us and told us that church had been canceled because it was snowing so bad. I have been told by some that it does not really snow in Portland. Well the last two winters we have been here there has been snow!
Jason and Matthew were very excited. Jason got undressed and put on his snow pants. So, I helped him get the rest of his snow stuff on. Then Matthew wanted to get on some snow stuff too. We really do not have anything for a toddler to play in the snow. So, we made use of what we do have and the two boys went outside to play in the snow. They really liked it more then I thought they would. They played outside for like an 45 minutes then when they were really cold they decided to come back inside. I have added some picture of our winter wonderland. Matthew helped sweep the snow off our deck. This is him sweeping the snow.

Thanksgiving

2008-12-01T17:28:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to say that I had a great Thanksgiving this year... most of all I was grateful to spend it with my wonderful family! It was nice to take a short break from school and not do any studying for a few days, too. Surprisingly, the weather was pretty good in the Pacific Northwest. The funny thing is that it rained in Mesa and it didn't rain in Portland while I was at home in Oregon.

Since I flew in late Tuesday night, Stephanie and I thought it would be fun to surprise the boys by keeping it a secret that I was coming. Jason and Matthew went to bed as usual that night, and when they woke up the next morning, there I was! It was pretty fun to surprise them like that. Gavin wasn't too surprised (obviously), but I was very excited to see him and hold him. I do think he's the cutest baby I've ever seen! :)

When I got back to Arizona, I decided to add myself as an author of this blog, so I won't have to hack into Stephanie's account anymore. This will make it more convenient for me, and so you might see more posts from me in the future. Well, I'd better get back to studying!

My Dear Sweet Matthew

2008-11-23T11:01:00.000-08:00

Over the last few days Matthew has shown me the wonderful side of toddler hood. Last Sunday the boys and I made some cookies. As we were waiting for the oven to heat up I walked away from the cookie dough on the cookie sheet. I came back and realized that maybe I had forgotten to completely fill the cookie sheet because a cookie dough ball was missing. So, without even thinking about it I added another cookie dough ball to the cookie sheet. A minute realized that Matthew was missing also. So, after calling him for a few seconds, I hear him laughing under the kitchen table with a half eaten chocolate chip cookie dough ball in his hand. He said "Mama more cookie". I thought it was so funny. Then, I don't know what I was thinking, but I walked away from the cookie sheet and he did it again. He is so sneaky he knows exactly when I am leaving and when he should run under the table as I am returning to the kitchen.
That was all on Sunday, then a couple of days ago I was feeding Gavin and I had asked Matthew to go and get me a diaper for the baby. He likes to be my big helper. Well, it was taking an awful long time to get a diaper. I went to check on him and he was cleaning the floor with our laundry soap. We buy our soap at Costco, so the soap is kinda big. Thank goodness the bucket is almost gone. But he had managed to pour some soap in Gavin's bathtub, the sink, and a lot all over the floor. It was such mess. But he was not done later that day he went back into the Laundry room and tried to clean the floor some more with our Spray and Wash. I am glad I did not wait too long for him to come out. He is our child that is into everything. (I know our heating bill should be less this month, he changed the temperature so it will go on at 58 degrees. I changed that back after I realized it was freezing in our home 63 degrees) Jason was so calm. Matthew is teaching me what a true toddler is all about. He keeps me going and laughing.

Finally time to blog!

2008-11-21T14:11:00.000-08:00

Life has been so busy the last few weeks! The older boys had a wonderful time trick or treating with all their cousins this Halloween. Jason was Anakin Skywalker and Matthew was our duck. Unfortunately, Matthew's costume was a little too small and Jason's was too big. Oh well! I am glad they were able to go out and trick or treat with the other kids and Grandpa and Grandma. It seems that it did not take Matthew too long to figure out what he was supposed to do to get candy. We were also able to cut our pumpkin the day before I had Gavin. Wow, carving pumpkins is kinda hard especially with a dull knife. It was fun for the boys to be able to plant, pick and carve our pumpkin. Next year this will have to be Brian's job--at least the carving thing.Gavin has been such a wonderful baby. He is already on his own little schedule. At night he sleeps so well. He usually wakes up at 11:30 (I go to bed at 9:30), 1:00, 3:30 and 6:00 (which is perfect because I need to be up by then anyway). The older boys really like him. Jason knows he is there, but he just does not pay too much attention to him. And Matthew well, we love Matthew he is my big helper. He gets the diapers for me, throws them away, and always makes sure that Gavin has a pacifier. Even if he does not want one. We are all learning how to adjust to our new family member.

Gavin is one week old.

2008-11-06T09:12:00.000-08:00

Well after taking a long break from blogging I have decided that I need to update. Last Thursday afternoon we had our third son Gavin Lee Grimwood. It has taken me a little while to get use to hearing his name, but now I think it is pretty cool.
I was induced at around 8:00 in the morning and by 11:30 I was in so much pain. My labor was going really fast. I asked the nurse at like 11:40 what time I could have an epidural. She told me that when I was in labor they would give me one. So, at 11:45 I asked her what time Dr. Scott was going to check me. She told me at noon. Well, 11:45 was close enough for me and asked her to check me. So, she checked me and I was dilated to 5. She asked me if I wanted something for the pain. I told her I did! So she went and called the epidural guy to get it all set up. Well, while she was gone the pain just kept getting stronger and closer together. I am so thankful that Linda was there with me. I know that I could not have done it without her. Then like 20 minutes later (i think is sure seemed longer) the nurse came back and told me that the doctor would be there in like 15 minutes to give me an epidural, but she thought she should check me again. So, when checked me I was had dilated to a 9, but my water had not broken. She told me that she was going to call Dr. Scott to see if she should break my water. Meanwhile, she gave me some pain meds. while we waited for the epidural. She was an awesome nurse! So, finally the anesthesiologist had arrived and was getting ready to give me the wonderful epidural. This gave my wonderful doctor time to get to my room. It took a while for the epidural to work because I was in so much pain and the contractions were coming so fast. But finally they were able to catch up to my pain. Even though the epidural slowed down the labor process it was worth it.
Dr. Scott asked me if I wanted Linda to cut the cord and I did. So, after like pushing for maybe a half hour Gavin poked his head out. Unfortunately the cord was wrapped around his little head so tight that Dr. Scott had to cut the cord himself. I was sad, but the most important thing is that Gavin was safe. After Dr. Scott cut the cord Gavin fell right out onto the table.
He is so cute. I am glad to have been induced, I was hoping that maybe we would be able to have the whole natural thing. But, the most important thing was that he was born safe and healthy.
Gavin is a good baby. His brothers love him so much. Matthew is getting use to the idea of having to share mom's time with another person.
I just want to thank everyone that has helped us. Especially all the grandparents. We could not have done this without you. I know I could not have.

Welcome, Gavin!

2008-10-30T20:28:00.000-07:00

Gavin Lee Grimwood was born this afternoon at 2:10 pm. He weighs 6 lbs., 15 oz., and is 21.5 inches long. Looks like he might be tall and thin, just like his daddy! (Okay, just like his daddy should be if he managed to lose a few pounds.) Stephanie did a great job! We are so proud of her. Here are some photos... Enjoy!

(Blog entry written by Brian, who is filling in for Stephanie.) :)

A day of rest

2008-10-26T21:21:00.000-07:00

Today the boys and I enjoyed a nice relaxing day. I decided that we would skip church today and stay home and just relax. We had stake conference and I knew we would have to sit in those hard chairs in the back because you have to be there super early to get the soft ones. And I being 38 weeks pregnant was not even going to sit for two hours on hard chairs. Also, since Brian is in Arizona it would be just me taking care of the boys for two hours. We have a hard enough time just making it to the sacrament before we have to get up and leave. Anyways, I had a little lesson here for the boys and then we just relaxed the rest of the day.

Tomorrow we find out if I will need to be induced. Our baby is still really high and my doctor is worried that if we do not induce soon he could turn again and then we would be back to being breeched. At the starting of the pregnancy I was sure that they would induce me by the 37th week. But, here I am at 38 weeks and still going. I had Matthew at 37 weeks so I just thought that I would have this one at the same time too. My doctor has let me go a little farther then I thought. Now that I am almost completely term (really after 37 weeks the baby is considered to be full term) it has not been so bad. I was kinda looking forward to maybe going naturally into labor, but after carefully weighing my options I would rather be induced than to have him turn again and then have no other choice than to have a C-section. It is such a blessing to have these children in our family.